Wardens
by Thaeonblade
Summary: Suspend belief and imagine if Duncan had somehow defied the laws of time and physics to recruit all potential candidates from their origins in time for Ostagar? The Result: Chaos on the history of Ferelden and Thedas. Current Location: Team 1 en-route to Soldier's Peak and Team 2 on the road to Honnleath. 70 to 80% faithful to source material.
1. Ostagar: First Impressions

**Copyright: If I owned Dragon Age then I'd be rolling like Tim Curry!**

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><p>As the Blight ravaged the land of Ferelden and the darkspawn horde pillaged the land at will while it's defenders fought a civil war over who would lead them, a very different kind of evil ravaged the small village of Redcliffe at nightfall. A horde of the undead, or more simply:<p>

Zombies

No one is sure just how zombies came to plague this town, only that they came out of Castle Redcliffe during a vulnerable time. The Earl of the land and Castle had fallen ill, most of his knights had been sent to find a legendary trinket that may not exist, and few remained to defend the now practically helpless villagers in this dark hour.

Amongst those few, were six particular individuals.

***No this will not be a song fic***

_"Please just stay where you are...I will come there and save you...No one this day will harm you, if I get to you in time!" _A scion of nobles swung himself along a rope and leapt into the chaotic battle between villager and zombie._  
><em>

_"Please stay right where you are!" _A fireball scorched the ground in the middle of a group of zombies and incinerated them...along with a few trapped militia,_ "When you run the meat gets less tender! Just lie down and surrender! Could you marinate in lime?"_

_"For this is war!" _A dalish warrior, scion of ancient kings, clashed his twin swords with the claymore of a zombie general before he swept his left blade under the zombie's elbow and felled it,_ "It's where the strong protect the weak!"_

_"I know not if I'll die, but how I'll try!" _a Dwarven prince, exiled from his home, lashed his axe and swept the legs out from the sockets of the zombies he encountered,_ "I'd gladly give my life for honor!"_

_"For this is war!" _Another dwarf, a scoundrel of surprising musical talent, shot his crossbow and whistled as it barreled through the bodies of zombies and idiot humans too dumb to duck,_ "I do not care who's side I'm on!"_

_"I'll burn a troll or home or read a tome!" _The Mage "annointed" one of the zombies and pushed it into a mixed crowd of defenders and other zombies. He turned away and pulled out a book titled "Tevinter Spells of Force" without looking at the explosion that burst from the zombie he "annointed",_ "But it was fun...to fight this war, who knew?"_

_"Won't you please help fight this war with me." _The noble scion stabbed both of his swords through two zombies and charged to stick two more pairs of enemies through his blades._  
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_"Unbelievable sights! Indescribable feeling!" _A young city elf girl danced amongst the zombies, her knives seamlessly carved through necks and sinew to fell her enemies and used her acrobatics to prevent any retaliatory damage,_ "Soaring, Tumbling, freewheeling! Through an endless bloodless streak! This is war!"_

_"Don't you dare close your eyes!" _The mage yelled as he shot out a cone of frost that froze a dying militia woman along with the zombies ripping her apart._  
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_"A hundred thousand stabs!/Hold your breath it gets better!" _The city elf and noble said to one another as the girl flipped over him to kick a knife across the area into the side of the head of another enemy while the noble threw out his shield to clove through a ring of foes before it returned to his arm like a boomerang._  
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_"I'm like a shooting star! I've come so far!" _The dwarf scoundrel brought out a handaxe and threw it into another zombie then rolled over to pull it out and hack off the arm of another enemy,_ "I can't go back to where I used to be!"_

_"This is war!"_

_"Every turn a surprise!" _The Dalish prince sweeped an arrow through the head of an enemy and then pulled it out of the fallen foe and fired it into the neck of another incoming zombie._  
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_"With new adversaries to crush!/Every moment it's better!" _The Mage and Noble cried as they combined the wrath of divine and magi to demolish a large group of zombies massing at the local chantry._  
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_"I'll chase them anywhere! There's time to spare!" _The zombies were now running back to their castle, but against those six, there was no running,_ "And it was fun...to share this war with you..."_

_"This is war..."_ His battle fury fading, the dwarf prince looked over the hundreds he and the others had practically killed single-handedly.

_"A whole new strife..."_ The Dwarven scoundrel laughed when a crossbolt broke after he plucked it out._  
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_"That's where I'll be..." _The human noble pulled his sword out of a fallen enemy and slashed to wipe off the small taint of blood on the blade._  
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_"That's where we'll be..." _The city elf told the human noble while grabbing his hand as he wiped blood from her face._  
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_"A thrilling chase..." _The Dalish prince smiled as he fired an arrow uphill and saw a felled zombie roll down the small hill._  
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_"Disastrous pace..." _The Sorcerer shot an arcane blast through the chest of a crawling zombie out of boredom._  
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_"For you and...me..." _The six turned from their carnage and listened to sounds of cheers from the helpless villagers that they had saved._  
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"You were singing." The defenders turned to see a frowning hornless qunari holding a jar of cookies in one hand and a his "precious" sword in the other, "Why did you sing?" ***1**

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><p>"Bullshit! That's not how it happened!"<p>

The storyteller winced from the slap given to him by his captor, Cassandra of the Chantry Seekers.

"Excuse me miss...but I'm now under the impression that you...were...there..." The Storyteller didn't at all like that this orleisan woman had abducted him from his nice vacation from his calling and now slapped him for telling a story she wanted to her just because something was too ridiculous to be believed.

The storyteller himself wouldn't have believed if he hadn't seen it himself.

"Come now! Even the dwarf can't take this...story...seriously!" Cassandra yelled, pointing to the beardless dwarf in the seat next to the storyteller who had just stopped laughing.

"I didn't say I didn't believe him...I actually enjoyed myself." Varric Tethras admitted despite Cassandra's obvious scorn.

"I didn't bring you hear to hear legends of your companions!" Cassandra barked as she paced in front of her most recent captive, "I came to hear the truth!"

"Don't mind her, she's still peeved about her precious chantry that's all." Varric's smirk didn't fade when Cassandra practically snarled at him, "What? I can get a little revenge after the abuse you've put me through."

"Very well...perhaps I should've had you start your account at an earlier point." Cassandra admitted as she calmed down and backed away from the storyteller's seat.

"You think?" Even his surrogate father's wife wasn't as troublesome and she was orleisan too, "Never mind...the earliest I could start would be Ostagar, you'd have to talk the First Warden to get the finer details of their origins."

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><p><strong>Transitional Narrative<strong>

N- "Well...not that this isn't common knowledge, but I'll go ahead and tell you the whole story. You see, the darkspawn had a huge party down in the Deep Roads. They like to invite the dwarves, but they never come willingly after the darkspawn overran most of the dwarven empire during the first blight. So one day, a darkspawn decided to take their party to the surface because the Deep Roads can get boring after a while."

V- "Tell me about it. Why do you think I'm a surface dwarf?"

N- "I thought you were exiled?"

V- "Not that I'm complaining...continue..."

N- "Right...oh yes! So the darkspawn went off to find a guide because darkspawn have no sense of direction. After stumbling around in the dark, he eventually found a huge cage with a sign that read: contains Fallen god of Tevinter, open at your own risk. Being the smart darkspawn it was, he decided to open the cage and try to make friends with the fallen god inside."

C- "You refer to the one they call the Architect?"

V- "Anders mentioned him...when I wasn't too annoyed to listen."

N- "Well, whoever this darkspawn was, he said something or gave the dragon a poorly baked cookie and the tevinter god got pissed, became corrupted and decided to vent all of his frustrations out on the people who may or may not have put him in that cage. So he gathered all of the other darkspawn and told them that he'd lead them to the surface for a party."

V- "He doesn't sound so bad-"

N- "As long as they killed, raped and pillaged every person they came across and left the earth black with sin and evil. It turns out though...those are the kinds of parties that darkspawn love best..."

C- "So began the Fifth Blight."

N- "Unfortunately, when the Grey Wardens, the order strictly dedicated to fighting darkspawn, told the bannorn of Ferelden that a blight had begun...they were mostly brushed off...which...was bad...there were only two dozen of us at the time and the only other sizable force happened to be stationed in a country that Ferelden just defeated to gain independence..."

V- "Politics...even Hawke couldn't stand em."

N- "You know...I think I actually saw a Hawke at Ostagar. Two of them in fact. Was Hawke a bearded man with a bladed staff-"

C- "The blight Ferelden! Tell me about the Blight!"

N- "Fine...as I was saying, there weren't many of us in Ferelden which prompted Duncan, the commander of the grey at the time to go out and find more recruits."

C- "From what I heard, your Duncan didn't find as many as he hoped."

N- "No...but he what lacked in quantity, he made up for in quality. He found...Six...of the most...insane...people...to ever...walk the ground...of Ferelden..."

V- "They were that ridiculously awesome?"

N- "Fortunately...yes."

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><p><strong>9:30 Dragon Age, Ostagar<strong>

"_The Tevinter Imperium built Ostagar long ago to prevent the Wilders from invading the northern lowlands. It's fitting we make our stand here, even if we face a different foe within that forest. The king's forces have clashed with the darkspawn several times, but here is where the bulk of the horde will show itself. There are only a few Grey Wardens within Ferelden at the moment, but all of us are here. This Blight must be stopped here and now. If it spreads to the north, Ferelden will fall._"

"Hold there! Duncan!" The King of Ferelden, flanked by two royal guards, called as he walked towards the bearded Commander of the Grey Wardens.

"King Cailan..." Duncan seemed delighted to see the young king, though his surprise was obvious, "I was not expecting-"

"A royal welcome? I was beginning to think you'd miss out on all the fun."

"Not if I could help it your majesty."

"Then I will have the mighty Duncan at my side after all, glorious!" The King clapsed hands with the Warden and noticed his small entourage, "The other wardens told me that you'd found a promising candidate, is this she? She certainly is lovely." The young king reached out and grabbed the hand of the beautiful blond lady behind Duncan, causing the young lady, only two years from twenty, to profusely blush.

"My lord...I..." The girl shakingly took back her hand and ran behind her other companion. An oddly dark-skinned young man in his early twenties with shaved black hair and a faded goatee wearing commemorative armor.

"Your majesty, you might not remember us...but I am Revan." The young man greeted with a bow, "And this is my sister, Shatele of House Cousland."

"Wait! I remember you know lad! How you've grown..." To Revan's surprise, the King pulled him into a crushing hug. Revan could've sworn that he felt a back muscle get torn by the king's armor before he was released, "Perhaps we should clash swords again after this victory..."

"With respect, those with big swords are often compensating for pure skill." Revan smirked, only with King Cailan could someone poke fun at his skill and not be horribly and publically mutilated for it. Despite the king's eagerness and relative newness to kingship, he was clearly a man who could match the greatest of knights and win.

"Is this the point where I roll on the ground and laugh?" The King's attention was turned to the light blue haired elf leaning against the entryway. She was pretty for an elf, but her clothing was slightly ripped and Cailan could've sworn that he saw a blood stain on the torso.

"Why'd ya interrupt them? I was gettin a chuckle out of listening..." The king then noticed a dwarf sitting in the middle of the road, loading a crossbow.

"Oh my...are you all..." The king wasn't sure how, but he had completely missed the rest of Duncan's entourage.

"With the exception of Lady Shatele, all present are recruits for the Grey Wardens..." Duncan explained while the king marveled, "If you would do the honors, Revan."

"Lily Tabris of the Denerim elves," The young "Cousland" said pointing out the seemingly unfriendly elf girl, "Brosca Gimli and Aeducan Durin from Orzammar," The dwarf with his crossbow waved while a more solemn looking dwarf with a longer beard and an axe on his back slightly bowed, "Gilead of the Dalish Clan of Mahariel," The black haired elf who was oddly without a tattoo common for dalish nodded his head. Revan meanwhile looked confused, "Where is Amell?"

"You called?" A mage-garbed man caused Revan to jump and the king to pause when he appeared behind the young "cousland" and the king noticed he was carrying a rabbit.

Scorched from a deliberate overuse of fire magic.

"Did that rabbit happen to have caused the death of a friend?" The King asked in curiosity.

"No...but it does remind me of when I killed my-" It looked like the mage just realized who he was speaking to, he dropped the rabbit and started shaking the king's hand, "You must the king! Amell Mairon, but Mairon will do just fine."

"A...pleasure..." The King quietly wrenched his hand from the mage's and barely surpressed a gag when he saw that his gauntlet was covered in blood from the mage's hand, "An interesting group, allow me to be the first to welcome you all to Ostagar."

"Save your false courtesy, human..." Lily answered with uncovered disdain as Cailan placed his right hand behind his back and had a royal guardsman clean it off.

"I...see you've...had a long road..." Cailan could tell that there was more to than that, but he wanted to make a good impression, "I'm sure you all miss home..."

"Under constant watch from blood-thirsty templars and annoyingly preachy senior enchanters? I love it out here..." Mairon's apparent celebration was stopped when a passing soldier stopped and stared at Richard and the burnt rabbit on the ground before the mage. The mage bugged out his eyes and said an incoherent word as the soldier's eyes widened and darkened and he started running away panickly screaming about rats and spiders.

The rest of the group looked at Mairon questionably to say the least, "He bothered me."

"I got kicked out for helping to rig a proving and killing the leader of an underground crime organization after he double-crossed me..." Gimli related before spitting on the ground.

"I fight to atone for the death of my brother." Durin stated solemnly as he brushed his beard with his hand.

"I seek to cure the affliction in my veins that already claimed one of my clan." Galad explained with lingering sorrow belonging to someone who'd lost a comrade.

"And I was booted out for killing a noble man's son after he abducted me during my wedding, raped my cousin along with his jolly men, killed my groom-to-be and one of my bridesmaids and I'm not sure if the castle is clean after the trail I left..." Lily looked down and turned a gold ring on her finger as everyone but Mairon and Duncan stared at her with sheer shock.

"Wha...what?" Along with the shock from that last story, Cailan was amazed at all he had heard from these five recruits.

"Suffice to say, your majesty...there are events in Ferelden that may have passed your notice." Duncan's words couldn't have been any more of an understatement.

"Apparently..." Cailan marshalled himself, as king it was duty to maintain a strong front for his people, "Whatever your reasons, let me say that all of you are welcome here. The Grey Wardens are pivotal to the defense of our fair land and every member is respected with all my heart...regardless of their origins."

"You gonna eat that rabbit?" Gimli realized he'd have competition when he noticed Cousland's dog go up to sniff the rabbit. Seeing a Mabari hound turn down a free meal with apparent fear, made the dwarven outcast have second thoughts, "Nevermind, I don't want it now..."

"Your majesty...I have grave news to report...concerning my father..." Shatele began but stopped and let out a barely surpressed whimper.

"Your brother Fergus arrived a few days ago but...he said your father would be delayed-"

"He is dead." Revan finished for his sister as he grabbed and lightly squeezed her hand, "Tim Cur- I mean Rendon Howe has shown himself as a traitor and killed everyone at Cousland Castle..."

"How...how could he do that?" Of all times to cause trouble, Cailan could not believe that Howe would do such a thing in the middle of a blight, "I swear on my father's name that when this is over, I shall turn my forces to Amaranthine and make Howe pay for this treachery!"

"How exactly will he pay?" Revan looked as though he would not like for Howe to merely be imprisoned the king could see that. Men were imprisoned when they committed crimes; Hounds were muzzled until they behave but not dogs. Revan regarded Howe as one would a mad dog.

Dogs were put down.

"He will hang." The King stated to the young Cousland siblings, "You have my word, this treachery will not go unanswered."

"Thank you..." Shatele said with sadness and gratitude, "My lord...about our brother-"

"I'm sure you wish to see him, my lady..." Cailan placed a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder, "But he and his unit are out scouting and will not return until the battle is concluded...I wish I could help more but there is nothing I can do."

"It is no problem, my lord." Revan stated, "I am...not in a hurry to relay this to Fergus anyhow..."

"I know what is like to lose a father," Cailan placed his other hand on Revan's shoulder, he knew of their pain...he still missed his own father who died at sea five years ago, "For now...I suggest that you vent your grief towards the darkspawn we will soon face."

"As shall I." Durin stated as he drew out his axe and bent down to a knee, "I may be little more than dirt, but I promise that this axe will be blackened with blood of the foes I slay."

"For every wound they gave Tamlen, you shall hear my bow sing." Galad pulled out his bow and held it pointing to Cailan but did not bow. Never again would the Dalish bend or submit to any human lord.

"If you don't mind, then I'll pretend every darkspawn I see is a human..." Lily said as she walked up to the group and drew the eyes of every human present, "Or would you prefer that vent on all of you?"

"If you don't mind, I'll just be on the walls watching your backs." Gimli said but before Durin could ask how the outcast planned to cover their backs from a wall, a bird, charred from lightning magic fell behind Cailan.

"Damn bird!" Based on the static electricity in Mairon's hand, everyone could clearly see who the bird-slayer was, "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

"You're uncle sends his greetings and reminds you that Redcliffe forces should be here in less than a week." Duncan reported to the king, hoping that a change in topic would settle the king.

"Eamon just wants in on the glory!" The king turned from the entourage and walked a few feet away as he spoke, "We've won three battles against the darkspawn already and tomorrow shall be no different."

"Ah...The blight's already over?" Mairon asked with disappointment.

"I ain't complaining..." Gimli's words were felt or thought by the other recruits.

"I'm not even sure this is a real blight." Cailan confessed rather dismissively, "There are plenty of darkspawn...but alas, no sign of the Archdemon."

"Disappointed, your majesty?"

"I'd hoped for a war like in the tales! A king riding with the fabled Grey Wardens against a tainted god..."

"Careful what ya wish for surfacer..." Gimli said and was hit on the head by the flat of Durin's axe.

"But...this will have to do." Cailan turned back and bowed to the recruits. "I hate to cut this short, but I must speak with Loghain...no doubt to bore me with his strategies...Farewell, Grey Wardens."

"He refers to strategy as boring," Galad mused as the young gold-armored king walked away, "I think I'll go on a limp and say that...he shall not pass thirty years."

"Could you at least pretend to respect your king?" Revan asked, offended at Gilead's words.

"He is not my king, shemlen." The dalish elf shot back also offended.

"Regardless...he is a king and should be treated with all due respect..." Durin stated to the elf.

"Are you quite finished with your childish argument?" The three warriors turned to see an annoyed Duncan, a nervous Shatele, a confused dog, a chuckling Gimli and a more annoyed Lily. "What the king said is true...They have won several battles against the darkspawn here."

"Yet, you are not reassured..." Revan noticed.

"Then again, he didn't take any of it too seriously anyway..." Lily also observed.

"Is there a chance that this truly isn't a blight?" Gimli would love to just leave this place if he wasn't needed. Duncan simply motioned to the recruits and led them along through the ruins of Ostagar.

"Despite the victories, the darkspawn horde grows with each passing day...by now they look to outnumber us."

"We wouldn't want this to be too easy, would we?" Revan boasted which caused Lily to roll her eyes.

"I would." Aeducan rolled his eyes at the cowardice of the casteless Brosca. What Duncan saw in this fool was beyond the former noble.

"I know that there is an archdemon behind this. But I cannot ask the king to act solely on my feeling."

"How great has the danger grown?" Gilead asked the warden commander.

"As I said, there is no denying that a blight is upon us Gilead."

"If he weren't such a fool maybe-" Lily stopped when she felt and noticed the sharp glare that the cousland shemlen gave her, "Is that supposed to scare me shemlen?"

"Be mindful of your company, my lady..." Revan lightly warned.

"What would you have him do, Duncan?" Durin asked the warden commander.

"Wait...await the reinforcements promised from Redcliffe and the Grey Wardens from Orleis."

"Orleisans! Are you jesting me?" Revan asked in outrage, "They'd just as likely retake Ferelden! Father would roll in his grave..."

"Remember Revan, a Grey Warden sacrifices all other ties and bonds for the sake of ending the blight." Despite his own feelings, Revan breathed and calmed down when he realized that Duncan was right...even if they were bloody orlesians, "Besides...the wardens in Orleis are just the same as us."

"Only...Orleisian! With ridiculous accents and stupid looking hats!" Everyone paused at Mairon's spontanious rant, not that he wasn't right but how he also said it in a mock orleisan accent, "I thought we didn't like the Orleisans?"

"With everything proceeding the way it is, we must commence with the ritual immediately."

"Ritual?" Mairon stirred at Duncan's statement, "Does this involve the shedding of fresh blood?" Everyone's breath grew chill at the idea of a blood ritual.

"Nothing quite so drastic..." Everyone exhaled in belief while Mairon snapped his fingers in disappointment, "It is brief, but necessary and preparation is required."

"Surely there others besides ourselves?" Gimli knew for a fact that when walking into a situation that doesn't guarantee survival, always bring a meat shield.

"There are two others in fact." Duncan assured the dwarf as they came to the bridge connecting the two halves of upper Ostagar, "Feel free to explore the camp, but I ask that none of you leave it for the time being. When you are ready, seek out Alistair and inform him that it is time to gather the other recruits and begin the ritual."

"What exactly does this ritual-"

"It is dangerous, but all will be told in due time, Lily," The city elf still looked distrustful but Duncan paid it little heed, "The Grey Warden tent is on the other side of this tent, you will find us there should you need to."

"Shatele...take Rabbit and stay with Duncan for now." The young girl didn't look like she wanted to separate from her "brother", but she nodded her head.

"Be careful brother." She kissed her "brother" on his cheek and ran after Duncan with the mabari hound following behind.

"You're sister's gotta a nice shaped-" Gimli stopped when he felt the cold steel of one of Cousland's swords against his face. "I get it, mate...off limits...I get it..." The human sheathed his sword and started walking but stopped when he saw that the city elf was also about to cross the bridge.

"Cousland." This human, Lily regarded him as though he were an insect that needed to be crushed. Not only did he look like he didn't belong around here, he also sucked up to that fool like a sick little puppy. This man probably never had to go a day without worrying about his next meal because servants were worked to death to give him a lavish dinner.

Elven servents.

"Lady Tabris." Revan was courtious as his mother would have wanted, but inwardly he dreaded the glare with which the elf gave him. It was different from Mahariel, the Dalish elf was proud of his culture and was making it clear of how much he hated humans for taking away the Dales. He was represented the culture he grew up in, but Tabris was another story. A story that could be summed up in one word,

Hate.

"Elf." Gimli was casual, he had never seen an elf up close before. Mahariel was the first elf he'd ever met and as the two stood looking at each other, Brosca had a feeling that this guy might grow on him. For one, this guy stood out. Most other elves were either skinny like that blue haired chick or had a meek little backbone so that they ate whatever shit these humans spat in their hands. Gilead was clearly different, he was muscular for an elf but he didn't have any tattoes.

Weren't Dalish supposed to have those?

"Dwarf." Mairon couldn't believe how short these dwarves were. By all accounts, Mairon figured that they shouldn't be around. That long ago, the Maker had a helper who got impatient because humans weren't around yet so they carved out their own figurines. Then the Maker decided to throw them in, make them short and cut them off from magic as some sick joke.

At least they had cool beards.

"Sorcerer." Magic was something that Durin had only heard of from stories and fairy tales. Not at all like the factual tales of demons that occupied the deep roads, corrupted dragons that led darkspawn to the surface, or the legions of stone that were lost to the centuries. Now here stood next to him a human mage robed with a single black braid running down his back. There was also a glow within his eyes.

Was that the glow of magic?

"Thank you." Amell told Aeducan, either not caring or not knowing that the dwarf meant to insult him, "That axe must make battles bloody, no?"

"Why in fact they do!" The dwarf's face lit up at the praise of his axe, "Least I have found a mage who acknowledges the strength of the dwarves."

"If you die, can I have it?" Mairon asked to which the former dwarf lord laughed, "Oh wait...I'll just take it."

"Nah! I already called dibs, that axe is a fortune by itself!" Gimli yelled over to the two.

"Typical of dwarves, thinking only of wealth." Galad mused with a mocking smile.

"Well maybe if you soddin elves thought a bit like me then you wouldn't be a bunch of poor drifters." Gimli shot back, the dalish elf huffed his nose and started across the bridge to rid himself of that dwarf's presence.

"They look like they're getting along." Revan laughed while he and Lily watched the other four recruits separate as they crossed the bridge, "You'd think with the impeding plague of darkness about to swallow us whole that we'd all join hands and become friends for a few years."

"Perhaps we are run by fools, Cousland." Tabris answered the human, "Sadly, they are the majority of your kind."

"What do you mean, my kind?"

"Humans. What else would I mean?"

"Nice to meet you too!" Revan called as he watched the city elf walk away. The look in her eyes, one wrong move and she would make good on cleaning out another noble house, "Then again, I'm surprised I'm not as bitter as her right now..."

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><p><strong>Present Day9:40 Dragon Age, Location Unknown**

"Wow! I've gotta hand it to ya, you sure know how to start a tale fellow captive..."

"So yeah, they weren't in the mood to be on their best behavior with the king." The story-teller lightly chuckled despite Cassandra's unchanged disapproval, "Given what happened to them though, I'm not surprised."

"An elf of the city embittered towards humans," The Seeker said more to herself than to her two captives, "A dalish elf who seeks salvation from the taint, two dwarven exiles from opposite ends of their caste system, an scion of a murdered noble family, and...a very particular mage taken from the circle of magi."

"So you're probably wondering why they didn't end the blight at Ostagar, right?" The Ferelden native asked with a smile that soon faded, Varric knew why, "This next part...it's not east to tell..."

"Take your time my friend." Varric leaned back and thought back to how the both of them had lost a brother in some way to the blight, "Not like she's letting me leave anyway."

"I'm right here you know." Cassandra crossed her arms and waited for her newest captive to continue the tale of the "heroes of Ferelden".

"Damn Orleisans." The man mumbled under his breath but seeing Varric nervous smirk and Cassandra's narrowed eyes, he realized that she had just heard him, "Oh sod."

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Right then...what I'm trying to go for as you read is a mix of genuine drama with audacious humor. I may fail horribly in the attempt, but I'm sure we'll both have fun seeing what kind of mess I make.**

**In case having all six origins present wasn't a tip, a few things may change in future occurances from how they went in the game. Again, this is a parody of Dragon Age so don't expect it to be more than 80% faithful to source material.**

**As for the storyteller, I'll leave that for you to figure out.**

**The singing, inspired by a rough animation for "Looking for Group" called "This is War", but since it wasn't complete, I merged it with the rest of the lyrics from "A Whole New World." First attempt at this kind of thing so I'm sure if it will translate well.**

**As always, thanks for reading!**

***1=Sten disapproved (-8)**


	2. Ostagar: Camp Interactions

**Copyright: If I owned Dragon Age then I'd be rolling like Tim Curry!**

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><p><strong>King's Camp<strong>

King Cailan of Ferelden walked through the camp of his army, feeling somewhat frustrated about his meeting with Loghain. So what if he was enthusiastic about Grey Wardens? So what if Cailan was tempted to make every grey warden an honorary captain of his army? So what if he was going to divorce Anora and marry the Empress of Orleis?

Actually, Cailan could understand the last part.

But he was pulled from his thoughts by a beautiful song weaved from three different instruments. Captivated, Cailan followed the faint sounds through the camp until he came upon the musicians.

Gimli and Gilead from earlier had joined their guitar and harp with the flute of another one of Duncan's recruits, Daveth from a village somewhere here in the wilds.

"Oh my! A song!" Cailan jumped up like a little boy as he neared the trio, "Please continue, grey wardens! I love songs."

"I was just playing music to pass the time..." Daveth said.

"I didn't have nothing better to do." Brosca admitted.

"You like my harpwork?" Gilead was cautiously grateful for Cailan's complement, "I am hardly a minstrel..."

"To be honest, you play as well as the court choir back at home." Cailan further complemented, "Come! Sing me a song for the upcoming battle."

"Can I join in?" Cailan nearly lost balance from the shock of Mairon's surprise question. When did Mages learn the ability to be stealthy?

"Of course Warden Amell!" Cailan encouraged, it wasn't uncommon for mages to use subtle magic to enhance their musical abilities. But Cailan couldn't care less, he was in a dreadful mood and even king's needed their morale to be lifted once in awhile.

Thus the Mage sang:

"_Bravely Bold King Cailan...went forth to Ostagar..."_

_"He was not afraid to die! Oh brave King Cailan!" _

_"He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways." _

_"Brave! Brave! Brave! Brave King Cailan!_"

"Come now..." Cailan was amused at how much the mage sang of his apparent bravery. He was just doing his job.

"_He wasn't at all the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp. _

"What?"

_"Or to have his eyes gouged out and his elbows broken._"

"_To have his kneecaps split and his body burned away!"_

_"And his limbs all hacked and mangled brave King Cailan._"

"_His head smashed in and his heart cut out" _

_"His liver removed and his bowels unplugged!" _

_"His nostrils raped and his buttom burned off! And his penis-_"

"That's...That's quite enough music for now lads!" Cailan nervously laughed, not because of the song itself but from the images that played through his head as the mage sang. Images directly reflective of the mage's lyrics, "I...have duties...to attend to..." The gave his leave and left the wardens-to-be.

"_Brave King Cailan'll run away!_"

"No!" Why he still heard Mairon's voice puzzled and horrified Cailan.

"_Bravely run away away!_"

"I won't..." He slowly felt his pace increase.

"_When darkspawn rear their ugly heads he'll bravely make his trousers wet!_"

"No!" Did the mage cast a spell on him as a joke?

"_Yes brave King Cailan'll turn about and valiantly he'll chicken out!_"

"I won't!" If so, it wasn't funny.

"_Bravely taking to his feet, he'll call a very brave retreat!_"

"Shut up!" Now Cailan was going into a full sprint through the camp. Drawing the eyes of onlooking soldiers.

"_Bravest of the brave, King Cailan!_"

"I'll never!" Cailan made a quiet note to himself to send the mage on the most dangerous assignment he could think of when he had the chance.

* * *

><p>C- "The way you tell of this...mage...What did the wardens ever see in him?"<p>

N- "From what I was told, the man passed his Harrowing in record time."

V- "That's a feat...maybe you can tell us his story later..."

N- "I just might."

C- "When did you meet them?"

N- "Well...I meet them at Ostagar. Oh right! You want to know which one I met first, right?"

C- "Don't play stupid with me Ferelden."

V- "Just tell the tale so we can all go home. Unless she's got seekers waiting to swoop on us as soon as we leave."

N- "Right...swooping is...bad..."

* * *

><p><strong>Loghain's Tent<strong>

"Yes what is it?" The Teryn of Gwaren half-expected another messenger from his son-in-law. Instead, his guard pointed him to an armored man who respectfully bowed his head.

"Teryn Loghain, Revan Cousland at your service." The boy stated.

"Oh yes...your Bryce's boy." Loghain hadn't been to Highever since a year before Maric's death, but he remembered his fellow teryn's children, "I don't recall seeing you since you were a pup..."

"I get that a lot." Revan slightly chuckled, "By the way, this is late but congratulations for your daughter's marriage to the king."

"I only hope that I don't live to regret that union." It was almost scary how much Revan read that the Teryn wasn't kidding."

"I doubt it...father always said that father's always hate the man their daughter marries..." The young man's smile faded, memories of his wounded father, sprawled on the floor in a pool of his own blood begging him to leave him. Revan's fist tightened from the memory and the pain, it was far too near still.

"The news of Bryce's death saddened me, Revan." Loghain placed an armored hand on Revan's shoulder, "I fought alongside him during the war, he was as noble and true a Ferelden than we could've asked him to be. I assure you, Howe will come to justice for this; if Cailan has trouble coming through on his promise then I'll gut the bastard myself."

"It...won't bring of them..." Revan's arm shook as the young man suddenly felt a tear slip out of his eye. There were more to be sure, but how could he break down? Not in front of the Teryn, not when a blight was on there doorstep and especially not when his sister was looking to him...he had to be strong.

"Don't bother holding your tears boy...it's wasted strength." Revan was so lost in his grief, he was surprised when Loghain pulled him into a one armed hug. "I know your pain...my father was killed before my eyes...as was my mother...but I knew that they would've wanted me to carry on. Even when gone, a parent never leaves their child."

"Sir...are you sure this is...I mean...look at him..." Loghain released the boy and turned to his guard. No doubt, the man had an opinion about Bryce having a son that not only looked like him but seemed more akin to a Kohen from the Anderfalls.

"I see no less than a proud son of Ferelden." Loghain stated, causing the young man to smirk with solemn appreciation, "I understand you will be joining the Grey Wardens."

"For the good of our country, Teryn." Revan answered, now lifted out of his stupor by the encouragement and support of one of Ferelden's finest heroes, "I'd go to the Deep Roads themselves if I could kill all the darkspawn there."

"No doubt, you'll be in the thick of battle if Cailan has his way." Revan could sense it in the man's tone, something about the king had rubbed Loghain wrongly, "Do not take offense, but I do not share his enthusiasm for the Grey Warden Order."

"I thought he was just faking it for an impression." Revan figured that leaders sometimes had to appear fearless for the sake of the troops. His father had been the same way.

"Maric was the same way..." Loghain admitted as if recalling memories himself, "He was the one who allowed the Grey Wardens back into Ferelden twenty years ago."

"Afraid of a repeat of Sophia Drydain?" Revan had been told about Sophia's revolt at Soldier's Peak. Despite holding well against all of the Ferelden's army, she and the grey wardens with her were overrun and killed to the last man by King Arland. Who was especially popular with the Cousland House.

"King Arland's actions speak for themselves as do those of Drydain's." Loghain answered, "But remember...Maric respected the Grey Wardens and they have an honored place in the hearts of our people. Yet he knew it would take more than legends to win a battle."

"I felt the King understands the threat well enough." Revan lightly countered as to not offend Loghain, "I might be wrong, but is it not the duty of King's to stand oblivious to fear to strengthen morale?"

"There is a sharp difference between the fearless and courageous." Loghain bluntly countered, "The Courageous acknowledge their fear and face it head on. The Fearless, are too proud to admit when it is okay to be afraid. Fear drives us child."

"Doesn't fear also grow into anger and then hatred that blinds us from the edge of suffering?" Revan had recently felt the very cycle he'd stated. Back in Highever, he was afraid...then he became angry and now hated Howe. Enough that all the suffering in the world upon that man would not ease the raging wound in Revan's heart.

"If allowed to grow to that point, yes." Loghain paused and walked out from the tent a little ways, "Tell me, what do you fear?" The young Cousland followed Loghain's direction, following the Teryn's gaze into the camp. Revan spotted his sister playing catch with Rabbit, she was still wearing the same dress she'd barely grabbed in time from their escape and she was happy. Happy as though nothing had happened.

Revan wished he could do the same.

"Do not turn from that fear." Revan heard Loghain state, "Allow it to propel you into the jaws of an open trap. Spring the trap. The faces of your foes when they see that your greatest weakness has only made you stronger...I have very fond memories of them."

"Did they curse at you with those stupid accents?" Loghain chuckled knowing to whom Revan referred, "I did not wish to take up your time, by your leave Teryn Loghain."

"I wish you the best, Revan Cousland." Loghain and Revan nodded to each other as Revan turned to leave the Teryn to his affairs, "Also, do pray our king proves amenable to wisdom, if you're the praying sort."

"There are those who call him a fool." Revan was not one of them, but did not discount the possibility that the king was taking the upcoming battle too lightly, "What if they are right?"

"Then simply...pray..." Revan said nothing as the Teryn returned to his tent, leaving him to ponder what the hero of the River Dane had told him.

* * *

><p>V- "That's not the usual account I get on Teryn Loghain."<p>

N- "Well...my views on the man would color the story so I'm simply sticking to the facts."

C- "Facts such as actions taken by your comrades before the battle?"

N- "About those..."

* * *

><p><strong>Mage Camp<strong>

"Hold there! The mages are not to be disturbed!" Aeducan regarded the armored guard with curious intent. Durin had seen human armor before, but never had he seen the ornate T-visor helms of these humans guarding the meditating mages.

"Are you their guards?" Durin asked, feeling further intrigued by the tough-looking armor.

"You could say that..." The guard seemed uncomfortable with the comparison as a personal guard, "You must be new to the surface dwarf."

"I am, my name be Durin, lad." Durin stayed tame, but name's existed for a reason, "Just so you don't call me dwarf."

"Apologies..." The guard rubbed the top of his helm, "We're not normal soldiers, we're templars."

"What would that be?" Durin had heard his father speak of these "templars" before, but this was the first time he had ever seen one.

"A templar is a soldier trained under the Chantry to oversee the Circles of Magi." The Templar explained, "According to Chantry Law, magic is meant to serve man instead of dominate him."

"Fair enough." As stupid as the worship of chants were to the dwarves, Durin was courteous enough to listen to what the the human had to say.

"We also hunt down and either capture or kill maleficarum." The templar further elaborated, "Mages outside of the Chantry's law and therefore more prone to demonic possession."

"So you regulate mage affairs to protect them from demonic spirits?" The templar nodded his head as Durin's curiosity only increased, "How exactly do you do that? You don't seem any different from any other soldier."

"We are trained in divine arts and lyrium usage to cancel out magic." A thought suddenly occurred to Durin that he couldn't help but follow.

"I see..." Durin careful gathered his thought in the best way he could word it, "So you are magic knights?"

"No..." The guard's annoyance from earlier now returned, "We use lyrium to enhance our arts specifically tailored towards countering illegal magic..."

"So you use magic to fight magic?" Durin just couldn't understand how non-magic warriors could possibly hope to counter magic.

"No..." The Templar's annoyance had now grown to slight anger, "We are chosen by the maker to hunt and weed out those who would use magic to harm others."

"By using magic." Again, the dwarf had heard nothing that said templar's didn't use some branch of magic themselves.

"What are you getting at dwarf?" Now the templar was angry to the point of tapping his sheathed sword with his fingers.

"First, I already told you my name, it would be courteous for you to use it." Durin reminded the templar, "Second, how is it that you can use lyrium? As far as I know, only mages have any use for lyrium potions to replenish their mana."

"That's because-"

"Also, only mages usually have the mental focus necessary to use magic and templar's require the same to counter mages, no?"

"We serve the Maker-"

"What better would be used to counter a demon possessed mage than a knight trained in magic?"

"It is not-"

"How do templars know what lies beyond the fade unless they've seen it with their own eyes?"

"We are taught-"

"And only mages are known to be conscious in this place you call the fade." Durin didn't need to see the templar's face to know that he was pissed, "How do you know that demons exist?"

"Dwarf...I've seen them-"

"Yes! And only magic users usually see demons, no?" An almost feral growl was heard from under the Templar's helmet, "Call it whatever you want, all this "dwarf" sees is **magic**."

"The Chantry forbids...the senseless murder of others..." The templar muttered to himself, trying to collect himself, "But...it doesn't say...shit about...unbelieving...drifters!" The Templar swiped out his sword, aiming to slash off the dwarf's head through his neck.

But Durin saw the attack coming and swerved around the blade, feeling the braided hair of his beard flow along with him as he drew out his axe. He spun, using momentum and balance to swing the axe in a counter attack. The axe slashed through the templar's arm and gashed into the side of his breast.

The templar gave only a single gasp as he fell into a heap on the ground. Durin grumbled when he saw the blood he'd gotten on his beard as the templar's comrades came to scene with swords drawn.

"Allow me to explain." Durin sheathed his axe to the templar's apparent puzzlement, "I killed him in self-defense after he tried to kill me because I pointed out a potential flaw in the logic that you believe magic is meant to serve man whether than master him. Yet Templars use magic-derived and lyrium enhanced abilities to impose Chantry dominance over other magic users and the common people though this seems clearly contradictive to your laws." The templars took a long look at their dead comrade on the ground, then to the dwarf who'd killed him then to each other for a good few minutes.

"Just don't speak of this and we won't." Their apparent leader said as he and the others shook their heads.

"Agreed." Durin then looked from the templars to the dead templar on the ground before him and remembered that a battle was coming, "Will you require his armor?"

* * *

><p><strong>Mabari Kennels<strong>

"There we are!" Lily felt the growl of the hound she was muzzling. It reminded her of the black one a spoiled human noble daughter sicked on her and Shianni when they were little. But this mabari, despite it's fear and pain, did not challenge Lily's attempt to muzzle her, "Sorry little fella..." She almost felt sorry for the wimpering hound as she left the kennel.

"Now I can treat the dog properly...poor fella..." The Kennel Master was holding a bloodied axe when Lily met him again, "Come to think of it, are you heading into the wilds anytime soon?

"Not sure...why?" Lily couldn't take her eyes off of the axe in the Kennel Master's hand.

"There's a particular herb I could use to improve the dog's chances." The human explained, "It's a flower that grows here in the swamps if I remember..."

"No promises..."

"If you happen across it, I could use it. It's very distinctive: all white with a blood-red center." It was so encouraging that the kennel master practically expected her to get the flower. Just like all humans.

"I'm sure the dog will be fine-"

"If he doesn't get it, he'll have to be put down." Lily had a feeling that this wasn't as horrible to him as he let on. There was almost a psychotic glee in his eyes from the idea of butchering a dog.

"I'll see if I find one." Lily wasn't going to do it for the kennel master, the dog didn't deserve to die a cruel death from the taint. Dogs are only reflections of the personalities of their masters, but as this mabari hound was, she wasn't a bad dog.

"Good. In the meantime, I'll begin treating our poor friend." Lily heard the dog wimper again when the Kennel Master glanced at it, "I'd really hate to have to put him down like her friend over there." Lily then turned back to the dog and realized that there was a recently butchered dog in the kennel next to it.

"Why don't you take it out of the-"

"And get infected by the darkspawn taint?" The way the kennel master tipped over his head really creeped Lily out.

"I'm leaving now." Tabris did just that, walking until she was far away from the kennels and somehow ended up on one of the walls overlooking the landscape. She finally saw another elf walking through the same area and walked over to him.

"Hello? I'm sorry, is there something you needed?" To her disappointment, the elf was a servant for some human lord and not someone else who'd come to fight. Where was the indomitable spirit of elvenkind now? Even the so-called Dalish weren't around and now the only elves around here were laborers and servants apart from her?

"What do you mean?" Despite her growing frustration, Lily remained calm and waited to hear what the elf had to say.

"I deliver messages around the camp. Do you have a message for me?" The elf, a little older than Lily, seemed a bit too eager about his wonderful job of messenger for the humans. It was a job, but this man didn't even try to attach any dignity.

"Yes...I do." Lily was almost mentally intrigued to see where this conversation would go.

"Then what is...oh wait! Are you the one I was to give Ser Garlen's sword to?" Lily almost told the elf that she'd never heard of Ser Garlen, until it occurred to her that a battle was about to start and she'd need more than Shianni's knife and that sword Duncan loaned her.

"Yes. The smith didn't tell you?" Lily asked, slightly hoping that the boy wouldn't be so stupid...

"Oh that's such a relief! You really saved me from the switch, for sure!" Lily signed as she took the sword from the messenger, "I'd best get back to my duties before I get into more trouble." She spat when the elf left, he had a skip in his damned step.

"The poor fool...what's the use..." What was the use of acting nice to these humans? Maybe she was just sour from having a human ruin her wedding in the worst way possible but Lily just sat on the edge of the ruined outlook of Ostagar. The wilds spanning out as far as the southern horizon. Had the elves of Arlathan ever explored as far as these wilds? Did they go further only to be lost when the Tevinter humans conquered them? History wouldn't be able to say anything, no thanks to the damned humans.

"You seem troubled young lady." Lily jumped up and turned to see a human woman in her late forties with white hair standing a little ways off against a pillar, "You are Duncan's recruit, are you not? He's not a man easily impressed, you should be proud."

"No human's impression concerns me." Seeing the old woman unphased by her intentional disrespect caught Lily off guard a bit. So she grudgingly corrected herself, "Sorry...a bit rude of me, I'm just not in the best mood..."

"Allow me to introduce myself." The old woman said, "I am Wynne, one of the mages summoned by the king."

"Lily." The elf introduced, "Are you going to take part in the battle?"

"Not directly, my skill is more oriented around support." Wynne replied, "But all areas will be crucial."

"Everyone seems to think the battle will go well." Lily remembered the bravado of that idiot was woefully their king, "Especially that...king of ours..."

"A king must remain confident in order to booster the spirits of the troops." Wynne explained, "To defeat the darkspawn, we have to work together. It's not an idea everyone seems to be able to grasp."

"Forgive me if I admit to being one of them." Lily admitted, "The humans at home don't seem any better than the darkspawn we'll be facing."

"I can...imagine why..." Wynne cautiously replied, apparently not wanting to put off Lily for some reason.

"Sure you can..." Lily couldn't believe any human would understand the life she'd lived but she decided to stay "nice" if only for the information this apparently experienced mage might have, "Enough moping from me though. I've never seen a darkspawn, have you?"

"Stragglers yes, not the vast hordes the scouts speak of." Wynne answered as Lily cringed from the thought of fighting a whole army of the legendary demons, "I wonder...how much do you know of the connection between darkspawn and the fade?"

"Used to be one of my favorite stories." Lily closed her eyes, recalling the faint traces of her mother's face. How she would always read to her, but what she read she could not remember. Until she grew older and looked through her mother's belongings, discovering a small stack of paper which Lily always read before going to bed but did not understand until she came of age:

_No matter their power, their triumphs,  
>The mage-lords of Tevinter were men<br>And doomed to die.  
>Then a voice whispered within their hearts,<br>Shall you surrender your power  
>To time like the beasts of the fields?<br>You are the Lords of the earth!  
>Go forth to claim the empty throne<br>Of Heaven and be gods._

_In secret they worked_  
><em>Magic upon magic<em>  
><em>All their power and all their vanity<em>  
><em>They turned against the Veil<em>  
><em>Until at last, it gave way.<em>

_Above them, a river of Light,_  
><em>Before them the throne of Heaven, waiting,<em>  
><em>Beneath their feet<em>  
><em>The footprints of the Maker,<em>  
><em>And all around them echoed a vast<em>  
><em>Silence.<em>

_But when they took a single step_  
><em>Toward the empty throne<em>  
><em>A great voice cried out<em>  
><em>Shaking the very foundations<em>  
><em>Of Heaven and earth:<em>

_And So is the Golden City blackened_  
><em>With each step you take in my Hall.<em>  
><em>Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting.<em>  
><em>You have brought Sin to Heaven<em>  
><em>And doom upon all the world.<em>

_Violently were they cast down,_  
><em> For no mortal may walk bodily<em>  
><em> In the realm of dreams,<em>  
><em> Bearing the mark of their Crime:<em>  
><em> Bodies so maimed<em>  
><em> And distorted that none should see them<em>  
><em> And know them for men.<em>

_ Deep into the earth they fled,_  
><em> Away from the Light.<em>  
><em> In Darkness eternal they searched<em>  
><em> For those who had goaded them on,<em>  
><em> Until at last they found their prize, <em>  
><em> Their god, their betrayer:<em>  
><em> The sleeping dragon Dumat. Their taint <em>  
><em> Twisted even the false-god, and the whisperer <em>  
><em> Awoke at last, in pain and horror, and led <em>  
><em> Them to wreak havoc upon all the nations of the world:<em>  
><em> The first Blight.<em>

"Canticle of Threnodies 8, verses 1 through 21." Wynne smiled after Lily finished, "In laymen's terms, someone tried to go where they shouldn't, got kicked out and corrupted and we're still paying the consequences to this day."

"It may be allegory explaining that it is the hubris of men that causes human suffering. Or it could be true." The mage suggested, "It is as good as any explanation, for now."

"How about I just kill every darkspawn I see?"

"A wise attitude. It's worked well for me in the past." Wynne agreed, "I enjoyed meeting you Lily, but I'm sure Duncan has more for you to do than talk to me."

"Maybe we'll chat more after this battle? Maker bless you." Lily nodded and walked away from the outlook. As she did, a human soldier rudely bumped into her and nearly knocked her off her feet. As much she'd like to turn around and throw her knife into the back of the man's head...

She'd be better off seeing how much this silver necklace she swiped would cost and buy a decent set of armor.

* * *

><p><strong>Denerim Tent<strong>

"That armor." Mairon had just "eluded" two royal guards who blamed him for their king's "fits" and now he found one of the other recruits wearing templar armor moderately tailored to be worn by the dwarf he now confronted, "When did templars start accepting dwarves?"

"If you must know, I convinced the fellows of the templar I killed that his armor would be far more useful to a grey warden-to-be than burning with it's original owner." Aeducan and Amell merely stared at one another for the longest time. With each second, Mairon's straight face grew into a gleeful smile.

"You and I, we'll get along very well..." Mairon stated as he walked past the dwarf and noticed a naked man in a cage.

"Could you help me?" The man begged after standing up and giving Mairon a sight he would've called horrible if he'd never gone through his Harrowing.

"What do you want me to do? It's not like I can blast the doors off the cage and let you escape..." Mairon acted like he was pondering and then snapped his fingers, "Oh right! I can do that!"

"Really?" The prisoner's hopes had increased from Amell's euraka moment.

"No." The man's wide smile turned into a frown, causing Mairon to smirk a little, "Why should I? You're obviously in that cage for a reason."

"I...fine, I'm a deserter, happy?"

"Then why human, should either of us waste time indulging a criminal doomed to die?" Durin asked, the dwarf had once been in the man's condition. A last request would not be beyond his power.

"Because..." The man turned as he looked around to make sure the guard wasn't watching them, "I've got something that'll make it worth your while..."

"What?" Durin asked, intrigued.

"A key..." The man stated, "Before I got arrested, I found this key to one of the Circle chests.

"As in the Circle of Magi?" Mairon's interest was now peeked in a key to a treasure belonging to his former jail.

"Yep." The prisoner answered with a faint smile "Don't...ask how I kept it out of notice..."

"If it's been where I think it's been..." Durin didn't need to finish his sentence. He was wearing armor from a man he killed sure, but a key that's been shoved up a human's...neather regions...should be treated as a poisonous object and avoided as such.

"A stolen key to a chest belonging to the circle of magi..." Mairon pondered again, the prisoner looked as if he thought the man was taughting him again, "I'll take that."

"What are you..." Mairon reached through the bars and stabbed the man in the stomach with a knife drawn from his sleeve, "Guards! Help he's-" The man was cut off when the mage palmed the prisoner's face with his other hand and fired an arcane bolt through the prisoner's head. The man fell to the floor of his cage, his remaining eye devoid of life as smoke rose out of the scorched hole in what remained of his head.

"Amell! That was unnecessary!" Durin yelled as the mage twirled the key he'd taken from the prisoner on his finger.

"Why?" Mairon enjoyed himself immensely, he'd always wanted to know what would happen if you fired an arcane bolt at point blank range.

"He was a deserter, why kill a condemned man?" Durin demanded.

"Why not? He was going to die anyway." Mairon replied lightly.

"Yes, he would've been killed by those who condemned him! Not by a blood thirsty mage who stabbed him and then shot through his face with an arcane bolt just for added measure!" As Durin fumed, Mairon's eyes focused intently on the key he'd taken.

"Do you want to know what's in the key to this chest or not?" The dwarf just shook his head, "Your loss, as a former circle mage, I believe the contents belong to me anyway."

"What's going on here..." The prisoner's apparent guard looked from the dead man in the cage then to an apathetic Mairon and then to a grumbling Durin, "Really?"

"He bothered me." The guard considered demanding what this grey warden was doing killing his prisoner. Until likely realizing that one, dead prisoner meant he was off the hook, two, the prisoner was killed by magic, three, the obvious offender was a mage.

"No skin off my bones." The guard may not have been smart, but he knew what the phrase "Too dumb to live" meant and promptly walked away without another word.

"You see? Murdering the condemned is one of the few times where murder is not a crime." Mairon pointed out to Durin.

"Just so you know. We dwarves have a natural immunity to your magic." Durin warned while reaching for his axe just to harmer the point in.

"Is the ground immune? The sky? The air?" Mairon always laughed at the thought that dwarves couldn't use magic but were also immune. That made them weaker, put aside that 1/10 chance of not having magic affect them and they're far more vulnerable than most would think.

Besides, what about the ground around them? You can make it so that they can't move. The environment? The strongest wall can be turned into a potential avalanche with enough power. What happens if you shoot a fireball at the ceiling above a platoon of dwarves? Rocks fall, they all die. What happens to a dwarf when his armor is struck by lightning? It crooks.

"There's always a way around immunities, master dwarf." Mairon flipped the key in the air and left to explore the camp further. Maybe he could learn something from that group observing a dead darkspawn.

* * *

><p><strong>Smithy Tents<strong>

"So what's your story, mates?" Daveth asked Galad and Gimli. The three hadn't really spoken to each other, Daveth had been rejected by a lovely archer and sat down to play his flute. Next thing he knew, the dwarf had sat down and played as well and then the elf joined in with his dalish harp. It was actually kind of fun.

Until The King and Mairon showed up.

"Pissed off a few people and then I got conscripted." Gimli answered.

"You too! I thought I was the only cut-purse." Daveth breathed, he was led to believe that the recruits were virtually saints compared to him, "What about you...Gilead?"

"I was infected by the taint and becoming a grey warden is my only cure." Gilead answered, flexing his hand as if he thought it was broken, "Don't worry, the arts of my people have contained it so it won't spread."

"Met the other recruits yet?" Daveth had yet to meet the newcomers. He'd seen Jory somewhere and caught a glimse of the "Cousland", but nothing more.

"That Revan guy's got a sister with a nice little bottom and I've gotta wonder if Tabris' got the same blue hair on her bush..." Gimli paused when he noticed Gilead's accusary stare, "What?"

"Between the two of you, I prefer Aeducan." Galad stated, Daveth thought it seemed harsh considering the nice little ballad they had going, "He has a proud bearing, I can trust him, unlike others..."

"I heard we got a mage." Daveth brought up to lower the tension...only to realize that it didn't work, "You guys don't like him?"

"That Amell." Gimli stated shaking, "He scares me."

"I can't imagine him kicking a puppy." Gilead mused, "He'd pick it up and drop it off a ledge just to see if it would land on it's feet."

"Why ain't there any dwarves in this camp?" Gimli brought up.

"Perhaps they are quarreling over gold back in your city?"

"Maybe they are, maybe that old sack of bones for a king crooked and the Assembly's bashing each other's brains out over who'll be king." Gimli paused when he followed Daveth and Gilead's eyes to a newcomer to their little party, "Got a problem?"

"You speak ill of your king." Aeducan accused, wearing the armor of a templar for some reason, "Don't." Sensing the rising tension, Daveth quietly snuck away and decided to make his way to Duncan's tent.

"Or what? Don't think the king cares much for what exiles to the surface have to say about him." Gimli blurted out, he was not in the mood to take any noble crap from...a noble exile... "In fact, didn't he kick you out too?"

"The King's judgement is absolute. No dwarf is above it." Aeducan slung his ax back onto his back and turned to leave, "Not even his own son."

"I sense things are amiss amongst the dwarves..." Galad pointed out much to Gimli's annoyance.

"What gave it away elf? Our little argument or the rising heat of dwarven tension?"

"We may be wanderers, but at least we know who our enemy is." The elf purposefully bumped into Brosca as he stalked off. Likely, Galad believed he had the last laugh with that last comment.

"Nice ring." Gimli said to himself as he examined the ring he'd swiped from the elf when they bumped into each other, "I would've felt bad for taking it if you hadn't said that last comment."

* * *

><p><strong>Ostagar Ruins<strong>

"I'm sorry, but I have duties to attend to." said another elf servant Galad tried to speak to. It saddened him really, he had heard stories from newcomer Pol of his "kinsmen" in the human cities. But they chosen their life of surrender and servitude, as Gilead's people had chosen to walk the earth until they found a new home to call their own.

Unlike most others of his clan, Galad had not been marked with the usual tattoos of the Dales and for that, he was sometimes ridiculed. His keeper, Marethari explained that his...lack of clan markings were a sign. A sign that perhaps a destiny was before him, one that would take him beyond the community of his clan, a destiny worthy of his ancestors of Arlathan.

If he proved worthy.

"What do you want now? Haven't Grey Wardens asked more than enough of the circle?" The black haired elf perked his ears, hearing the raised voice of a human a distance away. Galad allowed himself to smile, the increased hearing of Dalish hunters was said to be a testament that his people were recovering some of the gifts of Arlathan.

"I was just told to deliver this message from the revered mother, ser mage..." Galad heard another human say, "She requires your presence."

"What the bitch desires is of no concern to me." Coming closer to the conversation, Galad could tell that this wasn't friendly banter amongst humans, "I am busy helping the Grey Wardens...by the King's orders I might add!"

"Should I have asked her to write a note-"

"Tell the bitch I will not be harassed in this manner!" The first human seemed very harsh, irritatingly so too.

"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message." The second human shot back, who Galad to be a warden.

"Your glibness does you no credit, warden." Galad came to the ramp leading up to where the humans, a mage and an armored man were arguing.

"Here I thought we were going to be such great friends!" The warden sarcastically stated, "I was even going to name one of my children after you...the grumpy one."

"Enough, I will speak to the woman if I must." The mage stalked away from the warden and walked down the ramp. Seeing Galad, the mage swung out his staff, "Keep your hands off me you damned dirty elf!" Acting entirely on instinct, Galad didn't bother wandering how he'd drawn an arrow on his bow and brought it to the mage's neck in less than a few seconds.

"What my friend means to say is, mind your manners, sir mage." The warden stated while failing to divert the elf's arrow from the mage's neck. Sensing that perhaps his reaction was overly necessary. Lowing his bow, he didn't give the mage another glance as the human ran away terrified, "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."

"I seem to see what you mean." Galad agreed, placing his arrow back into it's quiver and slinging his bow over his shoulder.

"It's like a party! I can all stand in a circle and hold hands." The warden laughed, "That would give the darkspawn something to think about."

"Add a song to the circle and they'll flee with terror in their hearts!" Galad added with a smile, causing the warden to break down and laugh.

"Wait, we haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?"

"Do I look like a mage?" Alistair just looked at him as if accused of being stupid. "No we haven't met, you must be Alistair."

"And that makes you Duncan's new recruit? Glad to meet you."

"One of them." At the moment, Galad tried not to think of his so-called comrades, "I am Gilead of Clan Mahariel."

"As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the joining."

"Is that the name of the ritual we will go through?" Galad had heard two wardens speak of it while wandering through the camp, but they lowered their voices as if they'd either noticed or sensed him.

"So, I'm curious...Have you ever actually encountered darkspawn before?"

"A small group of them overran an ancient ruin of my people..." Galad hadn't quite made his peace with what happened in the elven ruin that claimed Tamlen.

"I've only fought them once up close and that was before the battles here started." Alistair offered, "Tell me...did you find them as monstrous as I did..."

"Monstrous would not be the word I would choose..." Whether the human chantry was right or not about why darkspawn exist, they did. Galad still remembered the "genlocks" he'd faced in the ruins. Mishapen mutilated creatures, as if they existed as a parallel perversion to the peoples of Thedas, "But they can be killed, just as any other man or beast."

"You'll be at an advantage then." Alistair complemented, "Most new recruits have never even seen darkspawn before."

"That apparently holds true for most in this group." If the rumors were true then at least Durin had fought a darkspawn, the others...they were experienced enough in killing their own kind if that counted for anything.

"Anyhow, whenever your ready, let's get back to Duncan." Alistair suggested, "I imagine he's eager to get things started."

* * *

><p>"Not with the lot he had to deal with." Varic was enjoying himself too much.<p>

"You'd be surprised as to how much tolerance Duncan possessed...it was amazing..." The Story-Teller reminesced, it was clear that the man still missed Duncan.

"Fitting for a Commander of the Grey." Cassandra complemented but could not hide her impatience.

"Don't worry, we'll get to the battle soon." The Story-Teller shot at the Seeker, "See this is why Orlais couldn't hold on to us, you're too touchy and impatient."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

Here's a question, could Templar arts actually be considered a technical branch of magic?**  
><strong>

As always, thanks for reading!


	3. Ostagar: Into the Wilds

**Copyright: Do really need to put this up every chapter? If not, let me know.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Duncan's Tent<strong>

"Good to see you again, Ser Jory." The Commander of the Grey said to the knight from Redcliffe as he and the young Cousland lady came to the designated meeting spot, "Thank you Shatele."

"Rabbit did most of the work, Duncan." Shatele pointed out to the Senior Warden. She knelt down and smoothly caressed the brown hair of her hound, "Good boy." Rabbit happily barked and licked the girl's face, causing her to laugh.

"Lucky lass you are to have one of those..." Ser Jory complemented, "Hope I can get one for my wife before our child is born."

"Your going to be a father?" Shatele asked as she stood up with the excitement of a little girl, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thank you lass-"

"I thought only men with big lances can have babies."

"What do you-" Ser Jory gagged when he realized just what the girl had just said. "What makes you say that?"

"Well...big brother told me that men with big swords have them to compensate for having a small "lance". The Lady explained without changing her sweet tone, putting the knight further into discomfort than he would have liked.

"Maybe he's just saying that cause he has a small lance." Jory jokingly replied with a nervous laugh. Likely, the girl was just messing with him to have a good laugh.

"No...it's quite big." Jory's eyes widened when again, he absorbed what she'd just said, "I actually mistook it for a hand once..."

"You've...seen your brother...naked?"

"Whenever we share a bed, we sleep without clothes on." Shatele elaborated, seemingly surprised at Jory's increased horror, "Isn't that what all brothers and sisters do? Rabbit did with his brothers and sisters."

"If you'll excuse me..." Ser Jory slowly walked away from the young Lady Cousland and went to find a...spot.

"Did I say something wrong?" Shatele asked Duncan as the sound of vomiting was heard. Rabbit sniffed the ear and gasped for a few moments.

"No my dear, you didn't," The Warden answered and followed the girl's glance at the arriving recruits joined by Alistair, "You found Alistair did you? Good, we can begin immediately..." Before Duncan could say anymore, the Dalish elf had drawn his bow and pointed a drawn arrow at Gimli.

"The ring." Mahariel said to Brosca. Before Duncan could diffuse the situation, the dwarf slowly pulled out a silver ring with twin emerald snakes running along it's band and offered it to the elf. Gilead snatched the ring from the dwarf and slipped it onto his ring, "Precious..."

"...No comment." Lily added in as the dalish elf rubbed a finger over the ring as if to pet it.

"Assuming that you are all quite done with your petty antics?" Revan looked questionably at his companions at Duncan's annoyed question, "Antagonizing mages, tormenting the king with uninspiring songs telling of his death, stealing from messengers, harassing templars..."

"And murdering a man condemned to die." Mairon added to the confusion of some, the horror of others, and the growing annoyance of Duncan.

"That doesn't make it right!" Durin shot at the mage in a fit of outrage.

"I did the system a favor..." Mairon replied while Aeducan stood quietly fuming and praying to his ancestors for rocks to fall and the mage to die.

"So what about that armor your wearing?" Brosca asked the former dwarf noble, bringing everyone's attention to the adjusted Templar armor he wore.

"Its previous owner lost his life in an ill-fated attempt to take mine." Durin explained without raising the tone of his voice, "I felt that his armor would be of more use to me in the coming battle than on his bloodied, soon-to-be cremated body."

"The messenger asked if I needed a sword..." Lily quietly mentioned, slowly fingering the coin she'd gotten from selling what's-his-name's sword.

"The king better not look at me." Gimli raised his finger towards the mage in the group, "I wasn't the one who made up the lyrics."

"I can't speak for the rest of you..." Alistair turned to each of the recruits with an amusingly raised eyebrow before turning back to Duncan, "But what can I say? The Holy Mother ambushed me. The way she wields guilt they should stick her in the army."

"You can use guilt as a weapon?" Shatele asked.

"Only if your really good at it, my lady." Alistair answered the younger Cousland. Revan let out a surpressed chuckle and shook his head.

"She forced you to sass the mage and threaten him with an arrow to his throat?" Duncan brought up with growing impatience.

"The last part was my doing." Duncan turned to Gilead with an odd "what the hell" face, "He called me dirty." Duncan shakingly narrowed his eyes before turning to the lit bonfire behind him.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear to all of you. At most, we will have a little more than thirty wardens and we are not well liked in Ferelden." Duncan stated with an increasingly calm but passively angered voice, "The least that we need to be doing, is giving our critics more ammunition to decrease our already fragile state in Ferelden and make us less able to stand against the Blight before it spreads throughout the world and destroys all in it's wake."

"I'm...I apologize Duncan." Alistair stated with a guilt lowered head while some in the group pondered Duncan's words. Brosca, on the other hand, had silently crept up to Duncan's back while everyone was distracted by their guilt.

"No lasting harm has been done...I hope..." Duncan turned around in time to snatch Gimli's hand and take back the rune the dwarf had pick-pocketed from the Grey Warden's pocket. Gimli gingerly smiled as he stepped back into line, "Now, I will need to send the nine of you into the Wilds to complete two tasks."

"What are the tasks, sire?" Durin asked.

"First, you must find and procure three vials of Darkspawn blood."

"I thought this wasn't a blood ritual." Lily didn't put it past the human to lie to her, but what was the point during a blight?

"Is the second to acquire a willing sacrifice?" Mairon eagerly asked to everyone's rising dread.

"No..." Again, Mairon snapped his fingers at Duncan's answer while everyone else calmed down, "Suffice to say...the vials are needed."

"Haven't you already found blood from your previous battles?" Gilead inquired, it was not uncommon for Dalish hunters to keep the blood of their usual prey in order to better memorize their scent. Surely the wardens had a similar practice.

"The last reasonably fresh sample we have is from a trip to the Deep Roads, but we need more for the ritual."

"What is the second task." Revan asked, determined to do fulfill his role as Grey Warden.

"Somewhere in the wilds lies an abandoned Grey Warden outpost. There you will find a sealed set of documents and scrolls that will be vital in the months to come."

"Documents and scrolls? Of what?" Mairon's interest seemed peeked, which surprised most of those gathered.

"Records, reports, memoirs, and most importantly old treaties." Duncan explained to the recruits, "These treaties were signed to ensure that Grey Wardens would receive the aid of all the factions who signed them. At the time, they were only formality, but with the Blight upon us, it will be essential to remind potential allies of their sworn obligations to the Grey Wardens."

"Why not just invoke the right of conscription on every able-bodied warrior in Ferelden?" Lily inquired.

"Because invoking the rights are not completely practical in a tight spot like we're in." Alistair pointed out, "Plus, we Ferelden's don't take kindly to...drafts..."

"Why just let em get butchered till they promise to help?" Gimli asked.

"If the darkspawn are still in the wilds, why not just burn the bloody forest to the ground with them in it?" Mairon took a moment to take in the gazes that the other recruits gave him, "Why not? Darkspawn aren't immune to being burned alive. Right?"

"What crime have these woods committed to you mage?" Gilead accusingly demanded of the apathetic mage.

"Enough." Duncan's single word brought everyone's attention to the Commander, "You have your task. I suggest you start immediately."

* * *

><p>"Looks like even Duncan had his limits."<p>

"He made the best of what he had." The Orator stated, "Shouldn't the fact that you're still alive testify to that?"

"No one's making a jab at Duncan..." Varric clarified for the offended Ferelden, "He...was a good man..."

"I was under the impression that we would've gotten to the battle by now."

"See...this is why no one likes Orleisans!" The storyteller mused loudly to Cassandra's annoyance, "Apart from the ridiculously funny accents." The storyteller chose not to regard Cassandra's angry glare.

* * *

><p><strong>Edge of the Kocari Wilds<strong>

"Here is the very edge of civilized exploration..." Revan remarked as he and the others searched the wilds, "Anyone think there's dead bodies in the water?"

"I'll humor you Cousland." Brosca called a little ways behind, "Maybe this swamp was formed over an ancient battlefield between humans, elves, and...dwarves...fightin some ancient evil who was dumb enough to concentrate his power into a shiny gold ring..." The dwarf turned away from the pool to see that the group was looking at him very querily, "Why not?"

"Over here!" The group heard a weak voice faintly cry out, Alistair carefully led the group over the uneven terrain until they came upon a ruined campsite where a scouting party had their last meal.

"What happened?" Alistair inquired though the answer was clear from the soldier's companions being littered over the ground a few feet from this survivor.

"My whole group...darkspawn came out of nowhere..." The soldier painfully answered, his wounds seemed all the more severe up close, "Please...I've gotta get...back to camp."

"Not in your condition, any one have a potion and bandage?" Revan looked from face to face, unfortunately it seemed that no one had a poultrice for the soldier to drink. The warrior stood up and walked over to Tabris, reaching into her tunic and pulling out a lesser health poultrice and throwing it to Alistair, "Thank you." The elf regarded Revan as if he was a darkspawn himself as he walked back over to the wounded soldier.

"That's a surprise, I can't even look at a woman without getting slapped across the face." Brosca laughed and then grew quiet when the elf turned their gaze to him.

"That should do it." Alistair remarked after bandaging up the soldier, "Can you make it back to camp?"

"I...think I can make it..." The soldier answered as Revan and Daveth helped the man to his feet, "I'll inform my lord of your deed...what are your names?"

"Alistair is mine and this is Revan." Alistair answered.

"I am Ser Gaider, I will remember you." With that, Gaider hobbled past the group and made his way for the camp.

"You hear that? A whole group of scouts killed by darkspawn!" Jory cried out in rising panic.

"Long as we stay careful and do nothing stupid we should be alright." Brosca tried to assure the knight but knew it wasn't working.

"Those scouts are trained to be careful and look what happened to them!" Jory pointed to the bodies of Gaider's fellows who sadly didn't last very long after their fatal injuries.

"Look? I thought the Alienage drains smelt bad." Lily remarked.

"These men died doing their duty...at least pretend to honor them." Revan was strongly resisting the urge to slap the elven woman mocking the dead.

"I am no coward. But I have a wife with child in Highever, I do not wish to die ignobly." Jory stated.

"Know this. The Grey Wardens can sense Darkspawn wherever they may be. If any of them are nearby, I will know." Alistair said to the knight and the rest of the group. Even though no one was soiling their drawers like Jory, nobody was too eager to die at the hands of ravenous darkspawn either.

"See Ser Knight? We may die, but at least we'll be warned in advance." Daveth stated with a chuckle.

"How acute is this ability?" Brosca inquired while getting his crossbow ready.

"Just so you know, there are a lot of darkspawn...in that direction..." Alistair answered, pointing towards the south-east and south-west of the ruin-littered swamp.

"Where are the treaties?" Brosca asked though somehow he already had an idea.

"In...that direction..." Alistair answered, this time pointing towards the south east.

"Who's bloody idea was it to have these documents placed in an outpost in the middle of a bloody swamp on the edge of unexplored territory?" Brosca demanded, for him common sense dictated to never put important papers in a place just as dangerous as whoever they wanted to protect the papers from.

"Look...I can't speak for the intelligence of our predecessors." Alistair admitted. The recruits under him simply grumbled and started moving.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing?" Gilead demanded Amell as the mage held his hand on the head of a dead soldier. He, Mairon and Aeducan were a little ways further from the group, but not too far out of sight.<p>

"Trying out a spell from a Tome I read." Mairon explained, "It's supposed to allow me to see the last thoughts of dead people before their untimely demise..."

"That could be useful." Durin commented, earning sheer contempt and shock from Gilead.

"What?" The elf demanded, "He violates the sanctity of the dead!"

"As far as I know, only one amongst the nine of us knows how to track Darkspawn." Durin elaborated, "Amell will be able to pinpoint groups through the memories of their victims."

"A lot of good it's done so far..." Mairon released the body from his grip and let the corpse drop to the ground, "This bastard was too piss poor scared to commit anything to memory."

"Help..." The three of them carefully stepped to where a severely wounded soldier lied on top of a decayed and carved out deer.

"We don't have time." Durin stated as he started to walk away from the soldier.

"Do we? Or do you simply not care dwarf?" Gilead wasn't ready to abandon this man just because of apathy. True, the man was a human but leaving him to die would not make Gilead any better and his descendents may pay for his actions in the future.

"This soldier is obviously wounded and therefore carries a risk of carrying the darkspawn taint." Durin explained the elf, "He'll probably die before we make it to camp.

"Besides, he's dead..." Before the dwarf could correct the mage on the difference between dying and dead, Mairon pulled out a knife, stabbed the soldier in the face and pulled him up by the knife to show his companions, "You see? Dead." The elf narrowed his eyes as he swiftly drew an arrow, pointed his drawn bow at the mage and released.

The arrow flew past Marion's face and embedded itself into the neck of a stunted darkspawn behind him. As the darkspawn fell backwards, Mairon stood up and unleashed a torrent of flame in between Durin and Gilead that scorched two other darkspawn. Durin swung his axe and cleaved through the aflamed creatures as Gilead fired an arrow into the head of a darkspawn that attempted to backstab Durin.

"Well done, Mahariel." Durin complemented while the three gazed upon the four genlocks that they'd slain. The Dwarf noble knew enough about darkspawn pack mentality to know that these were scouts, "There's apparently only a dozen more to go."

"You want the first shot or should I throw the first blow?" Mairon asked as the three spotted a taller darkspawn, a Hurlock armed with sword and shield marshalling a small group of Genlocks forward into an assault...

* * *

><p>"Whats that your doing?" Daveth inquired when he noticed Tabris kneeling down and picking out from a growth of plants.<p>

"Picking out elfroot." Lily didn't bother looking at the former cutpurse from Denerem, "Later on, I can concoct a little potion in case I ever get in a tight spot."

"Found any Wild's Flowers?" The thief asked, "Heard the Kennel Master's offering a reward for anyone who can bring him one."

"Yeah I heard, picked one out after we helped out that soldier."

"Hopefully you'll actually help ma'am." Revan remarked as he walked past Lily and Daveth.

"Be careful about reaching into my clothes again shemlen." a standing Lily warned the Cousland warrior, "I just might cut that hand of your's off."

"You know as much this little chat is drawing you so close together...Darkspawn! Draw out!" Alistair yelled as the battlecries of the darkspawn filled the swamp and the group drew out their weapons. Alistair ran out front flanked by Jory and Revan while Lily followed closely behind with Brosca and Daveth in the back with their ranged weapons.

"Maker, though the darkness comes upon me," The group heard Lily chant, "I shall embrace the light. I shall weather the storm." The city elf jumped up and stabbed the air behind Revan, her twin knives cutting out through the chest of a previously stealthed Genlock. She ducked under a slash from another genlock rouge and thrust to stab the darkspawn's throat and used her momentum to bring the creature over her head as a meatshield against the last two rouges. Fortunately, a pair of arrows launched from Gimli and Daveth felled the genlocks before they could cut through the meatshield.

The warriors couldn't respond to the rouges because they were busy with the group of hurlocks that had charged them. Jory swiped through three with his balanced greatsword as Alistair deflected an arrow fired from afar and stabbed through the chest of a hurlock and bashed it's head off. Revan fought very oddly, usually fighting with the sword and dagger forged with the same quality as the commemorative armor that was now stained with darkspawn blood but also unslung his shield to surprise his enemies with a bash to the head or chest before throwing the shield back onto his back.

Close to meeting back up with the others, Aeducin led a three man charge through the small darkspawn platoon. Fortunately, they seemed like a scouting party as opposed to a more heavily armored force because how disorganized they seemed.

Mairon fired an arcane bolt past a hurlock that seemed to have been fired in vain before setting another genlock rouge aflame with a blaze of fire. Gilead's bow sang in the wilds, the dalish hunter had yet to miss a target save for the few darkspawn outside of his bow's reach. Surprised by another darkspawn rouge, Gilead swerved to avoid a stab to the back and swiped his arrow across the genlock's neck, causing darkspawn blood to spray into the elf's face.

Though momentarily blinded, the elf relied on his hearing and fired the arrow where he heard another darkspawn approaching. By the time he wiped off his eyes, Mahariel allowed himself to grin when he saw the hurlock he'd slain while blind and then turned back to where the main group was.

Durin smashed the pummel of his axe into the side of hurlock's face, allowing the glee of war to fill him after hearing the creature's skull shatter. For good measure, the dwarf brought his ax down upon the center of hurlock as a lumberman does with a swine on the chopping block. An arrow sang and the dwarf looked up to see that a more armored hurlocked had been pinned to the ground by the arrows by three different marksmen. Durin brought as much strength as he could spare into the swing that cleaved off the creature's head.

* * *

><p>"Are you trying to keep my interest, Ferelden?"<p>

"There's no pleasing you is there? You wanted the gritty details didn't you?"

* * *

><p>Revan swiped his blades across the chest of a hurlock and crouched down, maintaining his focus as he felt the blade of a darkspawn rouge snap on hitting the shield on his back. The Cousland lad balanced on his foot as he swung around to stab the rouge in it's chest and shoulder with each of his swords. He stood up and swung his left sword through the skull of a hurlock as a lightning bolt flew past him to strike the hurlock behind the Cousland.<p>

"Two swords and with a shield strapped to your back..." Lily pulled her knife out of the neck of a genlock and threw it up in the air. She then somersaulted and kicked the knife into the back of a retreating hurlock.

"I'd like to think of it as having the Will of Highever on my back." Revan answered Tabris as he bashed his shield into a hurlock archer, "Plus, a predictable warrior is soon to be a dead one."

"Good advice." Brosca called as he passed the hurlock he'd felled and fired another arrow into the distance where the remaining darkspawn were fleeing.

"You're pretty good with those blades yourself." Revan told Tabris as Gilead's bow sang in unison with Gimli's crossbow and Daveth's bow and killed off the remaining retreating darkspawn.

"I call em Knife Ears." Lily answered, "Not heavy like short swords but longer and sharper than a dagger."

"Where did you get those?" With all respect, Revan doubted that those knives didn't look like anything that most elves could afford.

"If you've gotta know, I stole em." Tabris answered, "Some blacksmith named Wade, he didn't look like he'd be needing these little things so I took them."

"You realize I'll have to report you if we ever get to Denerim." Revan remarked with unhidden disapproval.

"I care because?" Revan shook his head at Lily's mis-concern, "Besides, those guards have been chasing me up and down the whole city since I was thirteen and haven't even come close to catching me on my worst days."

"If that's the case, they probably let you off." Revan guessed, "More important things to worry about than a cutpurse."

"This look like letting me off?" You'd think that a man wouldn't be able to see anything past the slim waist and underbreast suddenly revealed when a woman raises her tunic. Yet, Revan was too distracted by the ugly scar running up the side of her torso and chest, "But if they did, then all the fun would go out of seeing their shocked faces." The city elf lowered her tunic and walked towards a growth of deathroot.

"You my dear, are a credit to your race." Revan complemented as the elf walked off. His father had told him about the conditions and discrimination that elves faced in most areas of Ferelden. At Highever, at least his parents were able to see that elves were given a decent job, one of his personal guards was actually an elf himself. Elsewhere it seemed, the lords of Ferelden were less graceful.

* * *

><p>"Such pity I feel for the lass and the noble who had a great peek at her-"<p>

"I'm trying to tell a story, do you mind?"

* * *

><p>"Nice bow work..." Daveth complemented Gilead as they sniped away at darkspawn archers on the edge of their vision. Daveth wasn't a slouch with a bow but as he preferred to hit and run, he wasn't the least saddened to admit that Gilead was the superior archer out of the two, "Never seen a Dalish bow..."<p>

"It was given to me by a craftsman of my clan." Gilead reminesced as another arrow was released from his bow, "What of this...crossbow that the dwarf uses?"

"I call her Kalah." Gimli answered before joining the shooting gallery and bolting an arrow into the distance with his steel-framed crossbow, "Hand made this baby in my spare time and then I named her after my momma."

"Such reverence-"

"Cause she's a nasty bitch who always hit her mark no matter how drunk she was..." Gimli finished before firing another bolt into the wilds. "Before either of you start, I don't have use for pity."

"I don't blame you..." Daveth chimed in, "That's why I left my dad...the bastard..."

"You should be grateful you have parents." Gilead lightly rebuked, "Mine died when I was younger..."

"Good for you, they were probably nice ones," Gimli guessed as he took aim and fired to finish off the last of the darkspawn snipers, "Guess that ain't any different on the surface..."

"What's that?" Gilead asked, his curiosity baited on the life of the stunted peoples that even the Dalish had less contact with than humans.

"Nugs that live deserve death," Gimli started, "While the honest folk who oughta live get shafted and die...last thing my dad ever told my sister before he ditched us."

"Me...it's the taken and takers." Daveth stated, "But...maybe you've gotta a point too."

"All action has a consequence..." Gilead countered before slinging his bow back onto his back, "All one can do is live his life by their code and reap what they sow."

"Tell me how that works out then." Gimil stated and the three went to where the rest of the group was regathering.

* * *

><p>"You know...I would've thought that a dwarf noble's ax would look shinier..." Mairon remarked, he and the dwarf noble had again found themselves a little ways ahead of the others.<p>

"The axes of the noble houses are not forged as trophies but as weapons of conquest," Durin stated to the mage, "At any rate, an exile has no say in the quality of the weapon given to them."

"Fine." Mairon stated, "Me...I prefer the simple things in life..."

"Like what?" As Mairon was the first mage the dwarf had ever met in person, Durin couldn't help but listen to the mage's insights.

"Fire..." The mage snapped his fingers to summon a torch of flame on two joined fingers, "Lightning..." The flame swirled and flowed into the mage's hand before he shot it out at a rock and the rock shattered into smaller pieces, "And the sheer mastery of mana itself."

"Suddenly...I wonder about how a dwarf might become a mage." Durin thought aloud, sometimes he questioned the ancestors on a few pet subjects and after witnessing what Mairon could do with this power called magic, he wondered about their wisdom in becoming immune to ever harnessing it.

"Warden senses tingling..." Hearing Alistair's called-out warning, Aeducan and Mairon pushed backs to each other to keep from being stabbed in the back by any darkspawn rouge. Seeing that the darkspawn were coming from the northside of the hill they stood on, Mairon choose to gain higher ground while Durin charged into the darkspawn followed by Jory and Daveth.

"Missionary Rigby?" Mairon asked while picking through the belongings of a dead chantry brother he'd found, "Who the hell names their son Rigby?" The mage sidestepped a hurlock and pushed it off a nearby cliff without turning from reading the missionary's journal. He temporarily pulled away from the book to see the battle's progress. Jory in particular had been blindsided by a hurlock and hacked in the back of his leg. Fortunately, a thrown axe from Daveth and a mighty cleave from Durin prevented the knight from being killed.

Not that Mairon cared through, Rigby's account about the Chasind truly fascinated the mage.

"Hold on Ser Knight." Daveth pulled his handaxe from the Hurlock and kicked it aside before helping the knight to his feet, "This'll be a great story for your pretty wife, no?"

"Perhaps it will..." Jory agreed as he placed his weight on Daveth's shoulder, "I just hope I live to tell the tale." Durin cut into another darkspawn as the rest fled away from the hill and down towards a bridge. The dwarf just watched as Alistair and the others tore into the discouraged darkspawn. Just as Durin ran off to join the fray, Daveth turned towards Mairon when he heard the sound of thunder.

"Good on you ser knight!" Mairon called from afar, a rouge hurlock lied under him with limbs that still twitched from the lightning that had been sent through it's system, "Just listen to those instincts and you're sure to live through the night!"

* * *

><p>"Did Mairon know that-"<p>

"I'm trying to tell a story...here I'll make it more interesting as long as you stop interrupting me..."

* * *

><p>"Emissary!" Alistair called out as a darkspawn with a twisted staff was spotted. The hurlock regarded the five wardens standing on the other end of the bridge with caution. Rather than wasting time with jeers or battlecries, the creature fired a blast from it's staff.<p>

"Shit!" Realizing too late what the blast was, Revan was knocked off his feet by the fireball that erupted in the center of their group, "Where's the bloody mage when you need him?" Revan got back on his feet, looking around to see that everyone in their group had been knocked down except for Alistair who stood with smoke rising off his armor and Gimli, who stood back from the main group.

"I have to do everything myself." Alistair mumbled as charged across the bridge, his shield raised as he neared the Emissary. The hurlock fired a blast of misted energy from it's staff while two hurlocks appeared from cover to flank the Grey Warden. Not caring, Alistair rolled under their strikes and knelt in time to deflect a fireball with his shield and stabbed his sword into the Emisary's torso as the fire bolt exploded nearby. Alistair swerved his shield up into the Emissary's chin, crushing it's jaw into the upper part of it's skull and with a last slash of his sword, relieved the Emissary of it's lower regions as it's head and body fell off of the still standing hips and legs

As for the hurlocks, two arrows pinned one to the ground while the other was filled by a thrown knife in the neck and an arrow through the chest. The remaining darkspawn tried to pull the arrows out of it's feet before Alistair finished him off, but was instead sliced in half at the torso by Revan.

"Even Darkspawn may use magic?" Gilead inquired of Alistair after catching up to him and the Warden, closely observing the corpse of the Darkspawn Emissary who'd caused the group a great deal of problems.

"Yes. They're originated from the Black City in the Fade...so they've probably gotten some instruction at some point in time" Alistair explained and turned to see the group follow up from the bridge, "How's everyone?" Since they hadn't worn metal armor, the cloth-like tunics of Lily, Gilead, and Gimli were somewhat singed from that fireball and Revan's left gauntlet had been blacked from a blocking reflex.

"Jory's leg got splintered back there..." Daveth answered as he carried Jory and set him down in the clearing. Durin followed behind, his armor covered with blood but the blade of his axe was dringed in dark liquid as if it had bathed in darkspawn blood, "Anyone got an injury kit?" Revan walked up to Lily and held out his hand. The city elf at first shook her head but Cousland tipped his head to the right.

"Looks like the jig is up." Brosca remarked as Tabris slowly pulled an injury kit from her tunic. Since she was taking a while to hand it over, Revan snatched the kit from her hand and walked over to Jory.

"Here you go." Revan threw the kit to the knight and used a hidden but sadly also singed cloth to wipe the blood from his sword and dagger.

"What is it with you and snatching away my medicine?" An offended Lily demanded while Jory consumed the injury kit.

"You didn't seem very charitable so I relieved it from you." Revan answered before sheathing his weapons.

"Just like you humans, taking what you deem should be yours." Gilead joined in.

"I say the means benefits the ends," Revan remarked to Gilead before turning back to Tabris, "If you're gonna horde all of the medicine then I hope you're ready to face these darkspawn on your own when the rest of us are dead or collapsed from injuries."

"Not that it isn't fun to see humans and elves killing each other," Gimli stated, coming between Tabris and Cousland before they killed each other, "But I'd like to ask what our mage is doing over there?" Following where the dwarf pointed his crossbow, the group noticed Mairon up on a hill next to a pile of rocks.

"What is he holding?" Durin asked as Jory slowly stood back up.

"It's a pouch...of ashes..." Gilead answered, observing the brown bag with his Dalish attuned eyes.

"Ashes..." Alistair stood as if pondering something he'd learned based around ashes, "Mairon! Don't sprinkle the ashes over that pile of rocks!"

"What is he saying?" Mairon asked as he saw Alistair's mouth desparately move as if to tell him something. Mairon's own curiosity however had temporarily disabled his hearing due to the sheer amount of mana he sensed from the pile of rocks in front of him, "I choose to assume he wants me to sprinkle the ashes."

"Oh...nothing happened." Alistair seemed relieved when the ashes on the rocks merely blew in the wind, "Here I thought-"

"Who summons Gazarath from slumber?" A low unhuman voice boomed through the area and large amounts of dist and ash gathered in the clearing next to the bridge they'd crossed. The Wardens drew their weapons and watched in shock and amazement as the ash and dirt compiled into a large creature of dark violent shade.

"We're going to have to talk to him about this kind of thing." Gimli muttered as everyone prepared to battle the massive Ash Demon that now loomed over them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>

**About the Origins...  
><strong>

**They'll be elaborated on later, but as far as how they'll affect the Wardens, it depends on how actually tragic they were.**

**This is just my opinion though you are welcome to comment, agree or disagree**

**Most Tragic Origins:**

**1) Human Noble  
><strong>

**2) City Elf  
><strong>

**3) Dwarf Noble  
><strong>

**4) Dalish Elf  
><strong>

**5) Dwarf Commoner  
><strong>

**6) Magi**

**Reasons will follow when the elaborations are written up.**


	4. Ostagar: Demons, Darkspawn and Witches

"An Ash demon in the korcari wilds?" Cassandra couldn't believe what she was now hearing.

"Would you stop interrupting the man?" Varric couldn't wait to hear about this one.

"Then again, I should probably move on to when they met-"

"Tell me of Gazarath!" Cassandra demanded of her captive.

"Promise not to interrupt me for awhile?" The captive decided to take the Seeker's quiet glare as a yes, "Then let me tell you about it..."

* * *

><p>"You'd think a demon of ash and dust would be one of the easiest targets in Thedas!" Brosca ranted as he, Daveth and Gilead fired into the demon Gazarath from a distance. As their arrows seemed to phase through the demon, the summoned creature engaged Alistair, Durin, Revan in direct combat as Lily struck from behind while Jory became acquainted with the ground from being struck by the demon's first blow.<p>

"Mairon! We need some help!" Alistair cried to the mage sitting further up on the hill as the demon swung it's arm back and nearly knocked Tabris off the hill.

"So demons can possess dirt?" Mairon was reading a codex that he'd found in the pile of rocks that Gazarath had been summoned from, "Technically makes them a shade though...I wonder-"

"Amell! Get your ass over here!" Revan shouted as his shield was painfully wrenched from his arm, likely fracturing a bone in the process.

"Fine! Let there be Fire!" Mairon snapped his fingers, causing the blades of the combatants to become engulfed in flame.

"Andraste's pink nipples!"

"What?" Durin wondered in response to Revan's language until he looked next to him.

"I'm on fire!" By some oversight, the Cousland male was engulfed in flames of magic that danced off his armor while he wildly flailed around like a madman.

"Oh...sorry Revan..." Mairon said as Cousland screamed, the mage then snapped his fingers, "That should fix it."

"I'm still on fire!" Cousland cried to the mage as Gazarath's arm was hewn off by Durin's axe. Alistair jumped on the Dwarf's head and used it to jump up and bash the demon in the head with his shield.

"But you're not burning to death, no?" Not sure whether he was angrier with either the demon or Amell, Revan's eyes narrowed as he charged the demon. Just after Lily stabbed the back of the demon's lower back and two arrows finally found something to hit, Revan jumped into the demon's chest and stabbed forward with both swords. He then released his knife, slung out his shield and swung it up into Gazarath's jaw.

By the time Jory had managed to crawl over to Gimli's group, the demon was on it's deathbed, unable to fend off the attacks of it's summoners long enough to retreat. Finally, Durin swung his axe onto the demon's lowered neck and hewed off it's head.

"What was going through your head mage?" Gilead shouted to Mairon as the demon faded into dust and was blown in the wind.

"I don't know? I thought it was part of a Chasind burial ritual..." Mairon answered as he walked down the hill, his book apparently finished.

"Well in a sense it was." Alistair answered, "A charming burial rite for anyone stupid enough to go and complete a summoning ritual!"

"And how exactly was I to know that I was summoning a demon?" Mairon asked, completely unfazed by the glare that the injured Revan gave him. Jory attempted a similar feat, but Mairon just laughed.

"You should've looked more closely." Alistair wasn't very happy with Amell. No one in the group was to be honest, "The rocks might've had a little message on them that said, 'warning: sprinkling ashes on rocks will summon evil demon!"

"Well if it was written there and it wasn't in any language I could read," Mairon answered, "Anyway it's dead now so what's the big fuss?" An arrow flew into Mairon's face at that moment, drawing the group's attention to a formation of darkspawn archers further east in front of a ruin.

"Form up!" On Alistair's command, the group ran down the hill, Alistair, Revan and Durin stayed on the outside, warding off incoming arrows with their shields. Gilead ran in between the defenders and quickly fired a series of four arrows in the direction of the incoming enemies.

There wasn't much doubt that he hit because the barrage had ceased.

Down the hill, the group already spotted the surge of hurlocks and genlocks running towards them intent on a feast. Gimli was in the front this time and instead of firing with his crossbow, he pulled out a flask filled with a green substance and threw it at the approaching darkspawn.

"Everyone back!" Lily cried and soon saw why. The flask burst over several feet, spraying the green liquid onto the masses charging towards them. The creatures wailed and cried as the liquid burned into their flesh and caused some of the hurlocks to lose their limbs if not kill them outright. Those who didn't die or weren't hit were soon enough felled by the warriors or Gilead and Daveth's arrows.

To replace them, another smaller group of hurlocks charged. But this time, they were led by a strange appareled darkspawn in yellow armor with horns on his head covering helm. As the other hurlocks engaged the recruits, their leader stood in the back and slowly approached the engagement site.

Durin decapitated a hurlock as he and Jory breached their flimsy formation and stared down the hurlock captain. Jory attacked first and swung with his greatsword. Sadly, the hurlock captain caught the blade and swung his greataxe into the knight's leg, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground.

That would've been Jory's end if Durin hadn't hacked into the captain's arm and grazed across the hurlock's chest armor. Though wounded, the captain ran it's tongue across the wound on it's arm and clashed it's axe with Durin's.

As great as the two clashed, Durin's victory was guaranteed when an arrow from Gilead shot into it's eye, another arrow from Daveth met it's throat, a wounded Jory swung his sword through the captain's leg and Lily's knives came out through it's head and neck when she backstabbed it.

The Dwarf decided to oblige the hurlock captain and sliced through it's neck and shoulder, cleaving it's left arm and head from the rest of it's body. With the defeat of their captain, the remainder fled only to be picked off by Gimli and Daveth while the rest of the group reassembled.

"This was their captain..." Lily muttered as she checked the hurlock for anything valuable but didn't find anything except for a runestone and a steel helm that reminded Tabris of the armor the other grey wardens were wearing.

"You alright ser Gilead?" Daveth asked Mahariel, who nearly fell onto of a hurlock carved out by Revan and Alistair.

"I will be well, thank you Daveth." Gilead felt weakened, but he was unsurprised. He could already feel the taint flow through his veins. At this rate, he would've been dead within another week if he hadn't gone with Duncan.

"Can't sense anymore nearby..." Alistair told the group, "Looks like any other darkspawn are going back to the main horde."

"What we scared them off?"

"Worse, they're amassing for their next assault." The Grey warden answered Lily, "We still have time, let's just get those treaties and get out of this swamp."

"It's in a chest right?" Alistair nodded in reply to Cousland's inquiry, "I'll get them."

"Alright." As Cousland entered the ruin, Alistair sat down on the barely alive grass, "Let's take a brief rest."

"We should remain weary." Gilead warned the now sitting recruits, "These wilds...they unsettle me."

"You heard the Grey Warden, the darkspawn all left." Daveth said as though he didn't wish to have his ease of mind taken from him.

"It's not the darkspawn...it's something else." Gilead looked around, the feeling he had since entering these woods had not faded, "These wilds...they possess eyes of their own...something is watching us...but whether it means harm or otherwise...I cannot say."

"Probably a Spirit of Lust that wants to ravage you." Durin rolled his eyes and Gimli snickered as the group turned their gaze to Mairon. "Anyone have a better thought?"

"Question!" They heard Cousland cry from within the ruin, "Is it a good sign if the chest is broken?"

"This is an old outpost, hasn't been used for centuries so I couldn't say."

"We might've gone to the wrong ruin," Revan called out, "There's nothing in this chest."

"You mean I splintered my leg twice for nothing?" Jory cried out in pure frustration, though his reaction about summed up how everyone felt at that moment.

"Wasn't this a productive trip?" Lily asked, not surprised when she was answered with silence, "Didn't think so."

"But we summoned a demon and defeated it!" Mairon's smile remained unaffected, even as he saw the disbelieving gazes of his fellow recruits, "Oh don't act like it wasn't exciting."

* * *

><p>"I need a moment."<p>

"Bet you're not looking forward to this part."

"No...I'm really not."

* * *

><p><strong>Outpost Ruins<strong>

"Everything fades with time, the lock likely wore off and this happened," Revan assured himself as he knelt before a broken and decayed chest that was supposed to contain the Grey Warden documents he and his fellows had risked their lives to find, "But who's bright idea was it to leave these all-important treaties in a chest inside of a tower in the middle of wilds anyone hardly goes to and doesn't bother to-"

"Well...what have we here?" Revan stood up with sword drawn, but wasn't calmed when he saw a woman in black and dark purple within the ruin, "Are you a vulture, I wonder? A scavenger poking amidst a corpse who's bones were long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder...come into these darkspawn filled wilds of mine in search of easy prey?"

"What say you? Scavenger or intruder?"

"I would first know who you are and where you come from." Revan demanded as the others came to the scene.

"You are the intruder here. I believe the first question is rightfully mine." In a sense, the woman was right, but Revan didn't like her. Something about her eyes spellt out that she was dangerous.

"The woman is brave." Durin stated, "Shall I reward her courage or remove her interference."

"Neither." Revan held out his arm to stop Aeducan from drawing his axe and starting an unneeded fight, "The Grey Wardens once owned this tower."

"It is a tower no longer." The witch replied as if pointing out the obvious, "I have watched your progress for some time. "Where do they go," I wondered, "why are they here?"

"So we have stalker who was able to avoid capture...oh joy." Brosca muttered as the woman walked past the group.

"And now you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?"

"Don't answer her." Alistair warned, "She looks Chasind, and that means others might by nearby."

"Oh! You fear barbarians will swoop down upon you!"

"Right...swooping...is...bad..."

"She's a witch of the wilds!" Daveth cried out in fright that didn't seem in-place for the cutpurse, "She'll turn us all into toads!"

"Witch of the wilds?" The apparent "witch" was not amused, "Such idle fancies-" The witch was interrupted from seeing Mairon standing next to her with a wide smile and gleaming eyes.

"Teach me to turn into a dragon." He demanded as if he were a little boy asking for candy.

"Why should I?" The witch asked.

"Why not?" Mairon asked in reply. After seeing the witch's unrepentant frown, his shoulders slouched and he walked back to the group, "Fine. I'll find my own way to turn into a dragon. With crystal scales! And scantily clad virgins!"

"Have you no mind of your own...You there." Tabris wasn't sure what to think of being called out by a "witch of the wilds", "Women do not frighten like little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine."

"Lily's my name." The city elf replied, for a witch of the wilds, this woman was certainly less cruel and barbaric than the stories said.

"And you may call me Morrigan." The witch greeted in reply, "Shall I guess your purpose? You sought for something in that chest? Something that is here no longer?"

"Here no longer?" Alistair still seemed very suspicious of Morrigan, it reminded Mairon of the templars back in the tower, "You stole them, didn't you? You're...some kind of...sneaky...witch-thief!"

"How very eloquent." Morrigan said, seemingly brushing off the grey warden's mistrust, "How does one steal from dead men?"

"Are we supposed to answer that question?" Durin asked as if his intelligence was insulted.

"Out of everyone here you'd be the most qualified." Durin gave Gimli a curt glare.

"Those documents are Grey Warden property and I suggest you return them." Alistair suggested, his hand now resting on the hilt of his sword.

"I will not, for twas not I who removed them." Morrigan answered, "Invoke a name that means nothing here any longer if you wish; I am not threatened."

"Confident for an apostate surrounded by nine wardens who just killed a group of darkspawn and an ash demon."

"Oh my! You must the fearless leader of this ragtag bunch of misfits!" Morrigan mockingly stated to Revan, "I observed that the teeth of your comrades were so clenched that it is a wonder that you survive at all as a band."

"Sometimes you can't face down an ash demon and a bunch of berserker darkspawn without liking each other a little more." Gimli didn't feel anyone shift their gaze to him, but the air seemed to grow a bit colder, "Or maybe you can."

"If you did not remove the documents then who did?" Gilead had little patience for the mistrust of humans and their apostate adversaries. They were there for a task and it had to be fulfilled.

"Twas my mother, in fact." Morrigan answered, confusing some of the warden recruits.

"Can you take us to her then?" Lily wanted out of this swamp now. The mud was building up in her boots and she horribly reeked of darkspawn blood. The sooner they found Morrigan's mother, the better.

"There is a sensible request. I like you." Morrigan told the city elf.

"I'd be careful." Alistair told the group, "First it's, "I like you" but then "Zap!" frog time."

"She may be a witch but she's sensible enough to cooperate with us." "Plus, nine against one still keeps the odds in our favor."

"She'll put us all in the pot she will!" Daveth cried out, the man obviously did not like witches, "Just you watch."

"If the pot's warmer than this forest, it'd be a nice change." Jory told the rogue as the group started to follow Morrigan.

"Remember Orzammar Aeducan?" Brosca asked the Former Dwarf Noble, "Remember when we would complain about how hot it was?"

"I hate to agree..." Durin had noticed how much colder the surface was, "But I do miss the molten lake..."

"You have a pool of lava?" Mairon's attention was immediately pulled from Morrigan to the fact that the Dwarven city had a pool of lava.

"Under and all around the city." Gimli answered with a subtle smirk, "So even poor folk like me never had to worry about getting cold."

* * *

><p><strong>Hut in the Wilds<strong>

Contrary to what they dreaded, the trek through the wilds took little time for the wardens. Now it was as if they were in a completely different area of the wilds, the air was clearer and a small cottage could be seen.

"Greetings mother..." Morrigan said to the old woman sitting on a tree trunk in front of the house as she led the recruits there, "I bring before you nine grey wardens who-"

"I see them girl." The woman barked and sat up, "Much like I expected."

"Are we supposed to believe that you were expecting us?" Alistair's skeptism was shared by most except for Gilead, who cautiously stayed in the back of the group.

"You are required to do nothing. Lest of all believe." The old woman stated, "Shut ones eyes tight or open one's arms wide. Either way, one's a fool."

"She's a witch I tell you!" Daveth cried, "We shouldn't-"

"What's the big deal about magic?"

"Do you didn't see our weapons sheathed in fire, casteless?"

"Quiet, all of you!" Jory shouted to the dwarves and Daveth, "If she's really a witch do you wanna make her mad?"

"There is a smart lad...sadly irrelevant to the grand scheme of things. But it is not I who decides."

"In other words, you will not last the night." Mairon said, patting Jory on the back as if Flemeth had foreseen his death.

"Believe what you will," Flemeth told the group and then faced Mairon, "Do you not cringe before the unknown?"

"Believed or not, some things must simply be accepted." Mairon answered the old woman, as far as he was concerned, magic existed therefore nothing was impossible.

"Ah, _there_ is the answer I sought. An open mind, and not one made of mush."

"Now can you teach me to turn into a dragon?" Mairon asked with the same glee as he had Morrigan.

"And what of you?" Flemeth asked, ignoring a dissapointed Mairon and focusing on Lily, "Do you believe as the others do or do you possess a different viewpoint?"

"I really don't know what to say-"

"There in lies more wisdom than one would attribute." The witch stated, "So much about you is uncertain, are you a rose of sapphire? or perhaps a flower that refuses to yield under the long winter of it's discontent? There is strength within your stem, poison that lies within the barbs running along your foundations and that poison has served you well. But will that poison also cause the death of those you love? Will it blind you to help from those who can do that which you painfully cannot?"

"A seeker cast away from his people." Maybe it was the sickness from the taint, but Gilead dared not stir under the Witch's gaze, her gaze frightened him to much, "Shall you find what your people desire or what they will need to survive what lies on the horizon? You know that the path you walk shall lead to your liberation from death but will it lead back to your people? Or will the seeker constantly seek for another goal until he wonders the earth, never content to stay even amongst other descendents of the Dales?"

"Is this a wolf I see?" It didn't take much for the group to know what the Witch had noticed about Revan, "Raised by the proud hounds of Ferelden, yet you still bear the alpha mark from another breed. Will the mark help save the land that took you in or will it ensure it's doom? Will you rise to the challenge of your rivals and reclaim that which does not belong to them? Can you smooth out the differences of those assembled around you in order to lead them against the darkness?"

"You roll your eyes my pet from the dust of the mountains." Brosca regarded the old woman neutrally, "You seem very...aware...of your surroundings, so much more than most ever shall be. Born in the shadows, you developed your intellect for the day that you may prove others wrong for the brand they placed on your face. Though I wonder, will this leave you as a rat aware of the maze that it will never escape from? Or will you be the fish who leaps from the pond, grows legs and sacrifices his gills in exchange for lungs?"

"And you...I like you..." Mairon used a fold of his hood to whip his eye before Morrigan's mother continued, "You are a destroyer...as were the Magisters of old. There is much darkness in the world and I see that darkness within your eyes. I see that that darkness shaped you as you are. Who knows what dark secrets were whispered to you in the night? When despite your power, the light of suppression blinded you from destroying the walls that enclosed your potential. Now you have taken flight my friend and you have no intention of letting any power cause you to stop."

"Are you a seer?" Durin inquired before Mairon could repeat his question, "Because you seem to enjoy giving out a long analysis of a group of people whom you've just met. Specifically, you've focused on the elves, the mage, the noble and the casteless without any seeming regard for our commanding officer or for the other two recruits. Especially with the other two recruits, you've assumed them insignificant as though fate has already condemned them to die. Why is that so?"

"Here I see an unusual sight. A troll from amongst dwarves." The dwarf noble stiffened as soon as the Witch of the Wilds spoke, "For you speak without consideration for the thoughts of your listeners. To your mind, every word that you speak makes as much sense as the beliefs that shaped you. But to others, they will cut into their minds as deeply and painfully as the blows of your ax. It is common to see a dwarf with strength worth five times his height. Yet rare to not only see a dwarf with strength worth more than that but is also just as adept with the words of his mind."

"They did not come to listen to your tales mother."

"True. They came for their treaties." Morrigan's mother told her daughter before turning to the trunk and pulling something out of it, "And before you begin barking, your precious seals wore off long before this day. I have protected them."

"You-oh," It apparently took a while for Alistair to realize that this old woman had assisted them, "You protected them, thank you."

"And why not?" The witch approached Revan and handed over a worn but intact booklet containing the treaties, "Take these to your Grey Wardens and tell them that this Blight is far greater than they realize."

"What do you mean?" Revan was now confused, how could the King, who'd called on all of Ferelden's might and the Grey Wardens be underestimating a blight? Four times a blight had ravaged the land and none of those periods were pretty at all.

"Either the threat is more or they realize less." The old woman answered, "Or perhaps the threat is nothing! Or perhaps they realize nothing!"

"How would you know of this?" Durin asked in suspicion.

"Do I? Perhaps I am simply an old woman with a penchant for mold deparchments!"

"Someone's been smoking a little too much leaf." Brosca whispered to Daveth.

"Oh do not mind me." The old woman laughed, apparently unnerving Gilead all the more, "You have what you came for."

"Time for you to go."

"Do not be ridiculous girl." The old woman told her daughter, "These are your guests!"

"Oh...very well..." Morrigan didn't look any happier than Alistair to have to accompany the wardens any longer, "Follow me...I'll show you out of these woods."

* * *

><p><strong>Duncan's bonfire, nightfall<strong>

"You return. Have you been successful?" Duncan asked when the warden recruits returned to the tent.

"...It...wasn't easy..." Alistair started, apparently phased by the occurance in the wilds, "No thanks to you lot!"

"Hey! Mairon's the one who summoned the Ash Demon!"

"And you were the one who thought it was a great idea to stroll through the swamp with a Witch of the Wilds!" Daveth shot at Lily.

"We got the treaties from her mother didn't we?" Durin inquired.

"Yes because her creepy-ass mother made it all worth it didn't she?" Alistair asked the dwarf.

"Alistair, the affairs of apostates are no longer your concern." Duncan stated to Alistair, "You are a Grey Warden now, leave Chantry affairs to the Chantry.

"So how bout this Joining Duncan?" Gimli asked, wanting to get this over with so he could move on with his life.

"Now that we have the ingredients, we may proceed with the Joining..." For whatever reason, the group now grew quiet at the mention of the joining, "I'll have to take some time and meet with the Circle mages to prepare the ritual. Alistair, take them to the old temple."

* * *

><p>"The Joining..."<p>

"I don't think Anders ever said anything about his..." Varric mentioned, "You sure it's wise to share this tidbit with a Chantry Seeker and a dwarf like me?"

"I honestly doubt I'm telling you anything that you don't have an idea about..." The orator admitted, "Plus...the two of you are somehow on the Warden's Most Trusted List..."

* * *

><p><strong>Ostagar Temple Ruins<strong>

"The more I hear about this joining the less I like it."

"Are you blubering again?" Daveth now seemed annoyed with Ser Jory's blubbering, in fact all of the recruits were growing more frustrated, uneasy and impatient as they waited for Duncan while Alistair watched them from a distance.

"I agree with Jory." Lily sharped her knives against each other, only adding to the tension, "We just killed off a small army of darkspawn by ourselves, wasn't that our test?"

"I doubt it." Durin stated while he fiddled with his beard, "Anyone can kill a darkspawn that's why they work as a horde. Perhaps it was a test to see if we would be smart enough not to be tainted or let darkspawn blood get on our wounds."

"Why all these damned tests!" Jory shouted, "Have I not earned my place?"

"Maybe it's tradition. Maybe they're just trying to annoy you." Daveth snickered.

"I swear I'm the bravest man here." Mairon muttered outloud, "And I'm the glass cannon."

"What's that?"

"Read it in a tome somewhere..." Mairon replied to Gimli, "Some Qunari weapon that was known to blast through the strongest Tevinter fortress but could be shattered by a mere arrow."

"Jory, you heard what Duncan said earlier." Revan reminded the knight, "Do you really think they would put us through something that would kill us when they're in such need of recruits?"

"I only know that my wife is with child in Highever." Jory lamented, "If they'd warned me..."

"If you have such a problem with being here then leave." Lily didn't seem to be in the mood to be reassuring to a cowardly human, "Shed your armor and dignity and you'll make it before anyone knows you left."

"Not everyone is without fear." Revan barked at the city elf and then turned back to Jory, "Stand strong friend, there is little point in fleeing the coming storm."

"I say let him. There's clearly no reason why he should be here." Lily blurted out and pointed to the empty injury kits that Revan swiped from her to help Jory, "Out of all of us here, Jory's contributed the least except soil himself when a darkspawn appears."

"And what would you know about fear and helplessness, my lady?" Knives were drawn as Lily held out her 'knife-ears'.

"More than you'll ever know Shemlan." The city elf stated and sheathed her weapons while Revan just looked at her with a mixture of contempt and surprise.

"Wait till after the battle to slap and fight." Gimli added in, "Jory, just hang tight and if this is something that ain't worth the long haul, I'll signal you."

"I will not run..." Jory said to Brosca, "It just doesn't seem fair."

"Would you have come if they'd have warned you?" Daveth inquired, "Maybe that's why they do it. The wardens do what they must right?"

"Including sacrificing us?"

"You lot to appease a horde of darkspawn." Mairon stated out loud, "Fair trade to me."

"I'd sacrifice a lot more if I knew it would end the blight."

"You sound certain." Gilead said to the cutpurse from Denerem, "What if our "sacrifice" does nothing?"

"Maybe you'll die, maybe we'll all die lads, but what are our lives worth if we ain't willing to shill out for the greater best?" Daveth inquired, "I'm a curthroat and a thief, frankly I don't know if I should be here myself. But I've been given a chance by the wardens and I ain't gonna let it go to waste. Sir elves, you probably don't like humans right? What about your own people, what'll happen if we fail here? You think the darkspawn will spare your families cause they ain't human? Sir. Revan, you've got your reminder right behind you, right?"

"You think I forgot?" Revan could feel his sister's glance from behind him. She was probably talking to Rabbit about what this Joining would be all about. With any other dog, that would be crazy. But a mabari, they're smart enough to know when not to talk.

"So what about us dwarves?" Durin inquired, "Our war with the darkspawn is an eternal conflict."

"Maybe so..." Daveth honestly didn't know much about dwarven culture, "But would you like em to be barging on your doorsteps led by an archdemon?"

"How inspiring..." Mairon said as he clapped for Daveth, "Being talked to by a cuthroat..."

"And you sir mage." For whatever reason, Daveth didn't seem afraid of the present mage despite his fear of magic earlier, "You ain't the nicest guy of the bunch, but doesn't staying mean that you'll be on the "losing side" and therefore have more chance to kill things?"

"Never thought of it that way..." Mairon scratched his chin and started counting out the many spell combinations that could best kill people.

"And Ser Knight, wouldn't you give anything to save that pretty wife of yours?"

"I've just never faced a foe that I could not fell with my blade."

"At last we come to the Joining." The recruits turned when they heard Duncan's voice, "The Chantry teaches us that it is the hubris of men which brought the darkspawn into our world. The Mages of Tevinter had sought to usurp Heaven and instead, they destroyed it."

"They were cast out, twisted by their own impurity, and so they returned to the world as the first darkspawn and brought upon us the First Blight." Duncan continued as he walked over to an empty table set up earlier, "The Grey Wardens were founded after nearly a century of bitter war against the darkspawn hordes when humanity stood on the brink of extinction. So it was that twenty-one veteran warriors of the Tevinter Imperium came together in a fortress within the Anderfalls and underwent the Joining."

"Those first twenty-one then drank of darkspawn blood. Twelve would go on to found the Grey Wardens and master their taint." Duncan finished, setting a silver cup upon the table and facing the recruits.

"We're...gonna drink the blood of those...creatures?"

"As the Twenty-One did before us. As we did before you," Duncan told Jory, "This is source of our power and our victory."

"Those who survive the Joining become immune to the taint." Alistair explained, "We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to slay the Archdemon."

"Oh...so that's how it's done..." Mairon muttered, remembering about a journal he'd read back at the tower, "I think I know what Liam's missing page was all about now..."

"Hold on. You mentioned the twenty-one who first went through the joining." Lily had heard the tale of the first twenty-one, but she caught an inconsistancy that worried her, "But then you said that only twelve actually founded the order."

"It was no mistake, my dear." Duncan told Tabris, "I will not lie, we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price for the taint we hold. Some will be called upon to pay sooner than others Not all who drink the blood will survive."

"So this could just as well kill me?" Gilead was quietly furious. He had abandoned his clan, his family and his whole way of life for the slim chance that he would'nt be killed by ritual poison? If so then he was better off with his clan.

"What are ya, deaf? That's what he's been saying the whole time!" Gimli shouted, equally nervous about the prospect of a painful death. Though if only 9 out of the first 21 died then the chances of survival were likely a bit over 50%, so they were fair odds.

"We say only a few words prior to the joining." Duncan said to the recruits, "But these words have been said since the first, Alistair."

_Join us, brothers and sisters. _Alistair began,_ "Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilent."_

_Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be foresworn._

_And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten,_

_And that one day, we shall join you._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>

**Who will survive the Joining? What will become of these wardens in the battle to come?**

**If you really need an answer then you obviously haven't played the game or been paying much attention. Shame on you! SHAME!  
><strong>

**Reasons will follow when the elaborations are written up. Sorry if the Gazarath fight is a bit anticlimatic, I honestly don't remember having a hard time with him and I fought him on hard throughout most of my playthroughs...or maybe it's just me?  
><strong>


	5. Ostagar: The Joining before the Storm

"Time for a drink!" Mairon however was halted by Revan's arm. Much to his annoyance, "First into the fray and the last to leave? Fine."

"Someone must test the waters." Revan said to the mage before he started walking towards the chalice. Maybe it was just him, but Revan thought he could feel the darkness eminating from the taint within the concoction. He stopped, hesitation had gripped the young Cousland, as well as feeling his strong sister wrap her arms around his waist. Her grip had only grown stronger, "Don't worry about me sis. It's probably just wine with a bitter taste." He didn't want to look back. She was worried for him of course, afraid that he would die from this ritual. But he couldn't afford to waver now, not with the Blight just on Ostagar's doorstep, not with the fate of Ferelden upon his shoulders.

He had given father his word.

"Revan. Step Forward." Revan inhaled when he felt his sister release him and stepped towards the cup in Duncan's hands. He accepted the drink and took only a single swallow. He didn't how many he needed to take, maybe he had taken too little or maybe too much. His mind leaned toward the latter as a gripping pain choked his breath and darkness consumed his vision.

"Brother!" Alistair held back Lady Cousland as Revan's eyes grew white. The young man fell to his knees, a single sound couldn't be heard from his mouth, neither breath nor cry. The recruits all watched with dread and anticipation, if Revan didn't make it, they're willingness to take this ritual would plummet.

"You have accepted the call, from this day forth, you are a Grey Warden." Duncan stated, Revan slowly stood up on his feet, his head bowed and his dark features strained. Shatele immediately broke out of Alistair's gentle grip and ran over to her brother, slowly leading him to a place to sit where Rabbit waited with a piece of meat he'd found.

"Gilead. Step Forward." The Dalish elf stepped towards Duncan and slowly took his drink, "From this day forth, you are a Grey Warden." Gilead reached for his face as pain flamed through his veins. His eyes grew white as he froze in place, the whispers of darkness surrounding him, beaconing him into the darkness where his vigil would now be. The whispers grew less loud after the longest moment in his life, he stiffened and slowly walked away before setting himself against the ruin wall.

"Mairon. Step-" Mairon practically snatched the chalice from Duncan's hand and began to drain it as though he were at a party. Fortunately, Duncan tilted the cup from the mage's mouth and took it from his hands, "That's quite enough." Duncan stepped back as Mairon awaited the change.

Only to be met with silence.

"Well this is odd. I don't feel any-" The mage screamed in pain and surprise, he felt as though a fire were running through his veins. Far stronger than the lyrium he had used at the Circle Tower, more sinister than any demon he had encountered, and the pain he felt, the pain was as though a thousand Templars had struck him all at once...

"Is he?" Alistair watched as the mage shook as if electrified and cried out in delight that scared the ex-templar. When the mage collapsed, Alistair was certain that he had died.

"From this day forth, you are a Grey Warden." Mairon opened a single eye and raised his arm to give Duncan a thumbs up before he slowly dragged himself to a counter.

"Damn it...why don't they ever die when you want them to?"

"That's horrible!"

"I was only joking." Alistair assured Lady Cousland, though his words had a certain truth. Mairon was the kind of mage that looked like he would be right at home in the Tevinter Imperium. It wasn't that he enjoyed being a mage, he reveled in the power it gave him. Not the most favorable trait for a Grey Warden, but with the Blight around, it was fortunate that mage was now on their side.

"Durin. Step Forward." The Dwarven noble approached Duncan without fear and took his drink. The dwarf groaned and his arm's shook wildly at his side, but Duncan didn't seem concerned about his chances, "From this day forth, you are a Grey Warden." Durin exhaled loudly and stumbled backward, but managed to catch himself on the wall and stood, breathing heavily from his ordeal.

"Four recruits in a row and no one has died yet." Though he hadn't seen many Joining's, Alistair had never heard of one where more than two recruits took the joining at the same time and had consecutive survivors in a row, "I think this Joining just broke a record..."

"Daveth. Step Forward." Daveth took the cup from Duncan and quickly drank several swallows of the concoction. The three recruits who'd yet to take their drink watched as the cutpurse was affected. He cried out in pain as he reached for his throat. His body stiffened at once as blood flowed out from his pale white eyes.

"Maker's Breath!" Jory muttered as Daveth screamed as his legs lost their footing and slammed his knees to the ground. His hand on his throat, unable to breath while the blood flowing out of his eyes darkened and dripped onto the ground built by Tevinter magisters.

"I am sorry, Daveth." The cutpurse reached up to a remorseful Duncan, his head fell to the ground with a thud as his body grew still and darkened blood dripped from his mouth, "Step forward Jory." The air grew cold when a sword was drawn from it's sheath. Those who watched held their breath, Jory shook with fear and horror was etched upon his face. But the grip on his sword had never been tighter.

"...I have a wife...a child..." Jory pleaded, though he looked fearful of the approaching Duncan he had no intention of backing down, "Had I known-"

"There is no turning back." Duncan walked towards the knight, the Cup of Joining still in his right hand as the Commander of the Grey stared straight into Jory's soul with the gaze of a predator that had smelt blood.

"No! You can force this on me! There is no glory in this!" The cup was set on the table before Duncan drew out his knife. The knight desperately thrust out his sword, the frantic attack was blocked and diverted with ease. Within a second, metal pierced into flesh as Jory gasped from the knife driven through his lung.

"I am sorry..." Duncan's whisper fell on deaf ears, Jory was dead within seconds of Duncan's attack. The commander pulled out his knife and turned from his victim. The knight fell upon his back, his eyes still wide open with the shock of fear, "But the joining is not yet complete...step forward Gimli." Blood flowed freely from Jory's body, the knight's eyes staring towards the remaining two recruits.

"Ya crazy...I...how do I know that-"

"This is not a choice." Duncan warned the dwarf rogue, "You are not...a volunteer...you were conscripted...whatever value you hold to your life is nothing compared to the sacrifice that the Blight necessitates."

"This is a surface problem! What the hell-" Brosca's gaze shifted from the cup in Duncan's hand to the freshly slain corpse of Ser Jory. He growled, but he knew which choice he would take, "Eh...what do I got to lose..." The casteless tattoo rose with the squint of Gimli's right eye, a reflex from whenever he anticipated Beraht's punch. First few days on the surface and his own fate was wrenched from his hand yet again. With this in mind, Brosca resisted the urge to spit on Duncan when he took the cup from the warden's blood stained hands and tried not to smell the drink he drank...

"From this day forth, you are a Grey Warden." Duncan stepped back from Gimli as the dwarf's eyes turned white and he exhaled as he fell backwards onto the ground. Apparently he would live because the warden didn't bother checking if the dwarf had survived. "Lily, the time has come."

"You...why should I..." Tabris had been shaken ever since Daveth's death and Jory's murder. Seeing Brosca still breath did little to comfort her, her hands were reaching for her knives as her own eyes were fixed on the dagger still in Duncan's hand, "What will you do? Kill me?"

"If you leave me no other choice, then yes." Duncan answered gravely, "But what of your family in Denerim? Did you not come here to protect them from the Blight?"

"Duncan..." Alistair spoke up, "If she doesn't wish-"

"Choice is a luxary we cannot afford." Duncan quickly told the ex-templar, "Let me make this clear to you my lady. If you have no desire to undergo this Joining, then I will have to kill you to keep it's secret. Then, a messenger will be dispatched to your family, saying of how you died as a coward even before the Darkspawn came."

"You..." She'd thought this shemlan was different. But now he was threatening to label her a coward in the eyes of her family in Denerem, "How...dare...you..."

"Then prove me wrong." Lily narrowed her eyes on Daveth's body before stepping forth. Practically snatching the cup from Duncan's hand and draining the remainder of the drink, "Fate has called you to the shadows. From this day forth, you shall stand vigilant, forswearing all other bonds for the sake of humanity. From this day forth. You are a Grey Warden." Lily wasn't truly listening anymore, like those who'd gone before her. Her hearing was now consumed by the voices, the call of the darkness she had chosen to join. Her blue eyes were consumed by a pale white light as the world around her became nothing more than a whisper.

Compared to the roar of the Arch Dragon that now welcomed her.

"It is finished...welcome." Lily opened her eyes, still dimmed from the ordeal she had undertaken, she regarded the faces of Duncan and Revan with mild relief.

She was relieved to see two humans, lovely.

* * *

><p>"Two deaths..." Alistair lamented as Tabris rose from where she had fallen, "In my Joining, only one of us died but it was...horrible."<p>

"How do you all feel?" Duncan regarded the new wardens with a countanance of calm, but Alistair knew he was concerned for their well-being. Every new warden was to be treated as family, what they shared, could never be replicated.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to feel every once of blood in your veins move?" Mairon regarded his hand as if it were a new discovery, likely feeling the taint newly course through his veins, "I...I'm going to enjoy this!"

"I thought he was cracked before..." Brosca chuckled as Amell laughed maniacally. The dwarf had his hand over his head like he'd been hit by a hammer that cracked his skull, "Me...I feel like I've reliving the worst hangover I've ever had."

"I feel the poison of the taint recede from my lifespan..." Gilead was on a ledge overlooking the lower levels of Ostagar, his gaze fixed on the wilds to the south, "But the taint itself...is still there..."

"Perhaps...this is how the Legion of the Dead feel when..." Durin looked to be taking the experience in stride, his proudful bearing had not weakened in the slightest. But now he was more, thoughtful, "No...this is worse..."

"Nothing you said could have prepared us..." Revan was still a bit out of it from his experience. Thankfully being around his sister and dog managed to calm him down a great deal. But the intensity of his eyes was still a marvel to behold.

"Such is what it takes to be a Grey Warden." Duncan told the young Cousland, the warden commander's gaze lingered on Revan before he turned his gaze to Lily. Who was still very shaken.

"...I...still can't believe..." The city elf's stare lied upon the pair of covered bodies next to the table where the cup now stood empty. It was bad enough having to clean up the bodies, but even Alistair cringed at the method of their death.

"It brought me no pleasure to kill Jory or to threaten any of you." Duncan explained to Tabris, his gaze following hers, "But when Jory drew his sword, he left me no choice. Had you have been resolute in your refusal, you would have suffered the same fate."

"Just the like the Templars at the Circle...jump into the Fade to face an all powerful demon or have your head chopped off." The group regarded Mairon as an insect that they wanted badly to crush, "What?"

"To be fair, if you'd said, 'Drink this darkspawn blood before I stab repeatedly with my knife,' I've have done it." Gimli laughed but stopped when he saw that no one else was in the mood for a laugh. The moment was still to near for it to be spoken of lightly.

"The Blight demands sacrifices from us all." Duncan reminded the new wardens, "Thankfully you stand here as proof that not all of them are in vain."

"Did you have dreams?" Alistair asked the recruits, directing his question to those who'd passed out for even a few seconds, "I had terrible dreams after my joining."

"Such dreams come when you begin to sense the darkspawn as we all do." Duncan seemed slightly dismissive of Alistair's prodding, likely because there were more pressing matters to attend to, "That and many other things can be explained in the months to come."

"Before we're done there is one last part to the joining..." The ex-templar reached into his pack and brought out the pendants he'd prepared, "We take the remaining blood and place it in a pendant...to remind us of those who didn't make it this far." It was probably unnecessary, but Alistair took a moment to catch the eyes of each of the recruits. They were shaken, some even regretting this course of action, but they were starting to sense what he and Duncan sensed. They were beginning to understand their calling.

"Take some time." Duncan advised the recruits, "When you are ready, the king requests your presence at the war council to be assembled."

"All of us?" Duncan nodded to Durin's question, "Why?"

"Why question the fool's logic?" Gilead's ear flinched as if he'd heard something. Alistair immediately saw where this was going, "Do you have a problem, Cousland?"

"Keep in mind. When my king falls, your clans won't be too far behind..." Maherial turned to face the human noble, Cousland didn't back down at all. Alistair couldn't help but chuckle as the two walked over to confront the other. A Blight was just like a party, one where the guests could kill each other before the darkspawn politely knock on the door.

"That is enough." Duncan stepped between the two. He didn't go for this blade, but the mere gaze of his eyes told the two warriors to stop their bickering. The Warden-Commander then turned to address all of the new wardens, "Perhaps none of you understand this, but Ferelden...in fact, the entire world is at stake. Whatever your personal feelings or beliefs concerning each other, put them aside now before they lead to a premature death. You are no longer nobles, elves, from the cities or the dalish, dwarves, thieves, murderers, warriors or mages. You are Grey Wardens, sworn to do whatever is necessary to fight the Darkspawn and defeat the Blight. The sooner you all understand that you will have to work together, the better off you will be when the time comes to fulfill your pledge. These petty arguments concerning your differences are no longer relevant. The world now requires the service of the Grey Wardens and you will oblige that requirement with your skill or your life.

"Even now, you all sense the growing darkness just south of this fortress, you all hear it?" Alistair's inquiry may not have been necessary, but it was needed for this wardens to understand the true threat. Then they could at the least, put their differences aside until after it was gone."

"The horribly decayed dragon...the archdemon?" Lily asked, her body now shook with dread, "I always imagined that they'd be bigger and tougher looking."

"I assure you, the archdemon will be no easy task to handle." Duncan answered the young elf girl, "That is why it is imperative that all who can are united against it's threat."

"Duncan is right." Gilead spoke up, "Thedas, stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. We will unite or we will fall." Alistair felt that the Dalish hunter's words could've been a bit better chosen, but at least he had his priorities in the right place.

"Consider my words and try not to tarry...brothers and sister..." Duncan then took his leave and left the old temple area with Alistair following behind, wandering if it was a good idea to leave the new wardens behind by themselves.

* * *

><p>Mairon was having a great day. It hurt at first, but he reveled in it. The taste that lingered on his mouth, the smell from the blood spellt, the power that now coursed through his veins. Becoming a Grey Warden had now opened his horizons greater than he could imagine and now the world would no longer be able to cage him.<p>

But his companions threatened to debunk his mood.

Whenever he bothered to listen, they were still going about how much they hated each other. He had to admire how the elves would tag-team Revan, but the noble still held his ground. The dwarves, they largely attempted to ignore each other. Maybe it had something to do with the Dwarven Caste system and that they used to be on opposite ends.

It was all very dull to the mage, weren't they all there to fight darkspawn?

"My mother taught me well..." Mairon heard Revan tell the city elf, obviously they were going back and forth about how elves are the greatest victims in Thedas and humans are bastards. Yet you never hear about anyone blowing up a Chantry in protest of Mage rights, what was up with that?

"Yes, I'm sure she was a proper little bitch just like the rest of your kind-" Mairon's interest was raised when he heard steel cut into stone. He looked up from where he sat to see that Revan had apparently tried to kill Lily.

"Don't. Insult. My. Mother!" The noble roared like a feral animal. The man needed to get laid, maybe Lily would be willing to help with that?

Based on the kick she gave to the side of his jaw, maybe not.

"Brother stop!" Cousland's fine-ass younger sister stepped between the two, her shield covered back to Lily and her arms around Revan attempting to calm him. "She doesn't know! She didn't mean to offend her!"

"Wait...is she...dead?" Mairon chuckled, the woman wasn't paying attention to the first conversation the king had with the Cousland siblings.

"Yes." Revan answered, stating the obvious in Mairon's account, "The proper little bitch stayed behind with my father to buy me and my sister time to escape from the treacherous noble who betrayed my family, killed my brother's wife and his little boy...and likely slaughtered everyone they could find in the walls of the castle where I was raised. So forgive me if my little action is not at all reflective of the honor of the Cousland Family!"

"I...I didn't know-"

"That's right...you didn't know...you didn't care..." Revan turned away from the city elf and just stood on the edge of the old temple area. Lily threw off her shock and stormed away from the group, likely to find that blacksmith and get better armor before her luck ran out.

"Did he cut this Tevinter piece of architexture in half?" Durin gasped, shocked by the damage to the landscape, "It took hundreds of years to carve this!"

"I'm just glad this piece of "architexture" wasn't anyone's head." Mairon brought up, "Remind me not to piss him off."

"He has way too many "anger triggers'." Gimli remarked, "Talk bad about the king, he gets mad. Talk about his momma, he'll try to kill you. Hit on his sister, he threatens you. Say something about Ferelden, he'll be offended. Bring up anything minimally good about Orleisans (which is rare) and he'll accuse you of treachery."

"Heh! I bet if I said his poddle-"

"Rabbit is a mabari hound." This wasn't terribly relevant, but Mairon noted how similar Revan's knife was to Duncan's, "Not...an Orleisan poddle...got it?" Cousland swiftly brought his hand from the mage's neck and walked away.

"See what I mean?" Mairon strongly resisted the urge to set Brosca on fire but since there was a battle coming, he could just do it there.

* * *

><p><strong>Ostagar, Main Camp<strong>

"Brother. I'm not going to change my mind." As Revan had thought, his sister, now arrayed in a light chainshirt skirt with thigh length stockings under armored boots.

"Shatele, there's already troops stationed there, you don't need to needlessly endanger yourself."

"It's just a tower. I'm just going to help guard it from darkspawn." As Revan thought, she was going into this like it would be a simple walk to the market, "I heard a rumor that they might've enslaved a dragon."

"That's just a story cooked up to scare newer soldiers." At least that is what Revan hoped. In a sense, there was a dragon enslaved by the Darkspawn, and he prayed to the Maker that it would not show itself.

"Alright, where else will I go then?" As Revan thought, Shatele had planned on Revan's objection, "It's too late to flee north and everywhere else will be a war ground soon anyway."

"I guess your right..." Revan agreed reluctantly. It was too late to send Shatele to Denerem and even then, that was too close to Amaranthine, "I just...I promised mother and father I'd look after you."

"I know..." Shatele's smiled was erased, Revan should've known better than to mention their parents so soon after their..., "But I promised to look after you too. We have to stay together. If you're going to fight the darkspawn, I'll be right there besides you."

"Shatele-"

"If that demon shows up, I'll kill every darkspawn that comes near the wardens to let you take it out." Shatele's features were sad, but he saw in her green eyes, the same determination that had been in their mothers. Shatele was a Cousland afterall, "But I won't abandon you! Don't you...don't ask me to leave someone else that...that I..."

"I miss them too." Revan slowly embraced his sister. He knew she was going through, that thought caused a tear to run down his check, "If you want to cry then..."

"I can't!" Revan heard his sister cry out, "I just feel so...empty...so...angry!" He felt the exact same way, the Cousland family had been faithful to Ferelden ever since before the Orleisans, "I want them all with me now...Gilmore...Fergus...Papa...Mother...Oren...oh Oren..."

"They would've been proud of you." Revan wished his sister hadn't mentioned any names. Gilmore had stayed with what remained of the garrison to hold back Howe's men...Fergus, somewhere in the Wild's scouting for the darkspawn...unaware that his son...

Unaware that his brother had failed to protect his son.

"Oren always wanted to see a griffon." Shatele reminesced, somehow giggling sadly, "Is there chance that-"

"Can't say." Revan answered, glad to be able to bring the conversation from that dreadful topic. It was too fresh on Revan's mind, too close on his heart, "Remember when everyone thought dragons were extinct? Now they've got a whole age named after them."

"I still wanna see a griffon. They don't breath fire and aren't as mean." Shatele did have a point, the Orleisans certainly thought the dragons weren't very nice. As much as any Ferelden would admit it, it was hard not to agree with them.

"Sorry to interrupt you..." Revan regarded Alistair with cautious courtesy, "The others are heading over to the meeting. They're waiting on you."

"Maker watch over and keep you brother." Shatele quickly squeezed her older brother into a hug before starting to walk off, "Which way is the tower Ser Alistair?"

"Alistair is just fine and," Alistair gave a glance to Revan as if asking for approval. Revan nodded and Alistair went up next to Lady Cousland, "I'll show you the way." Revan watched Alistair lead his sister out of the King's camp. He was glad in a sense, towers were usually the safest place in a fortress.

"Loyal aren't you?" Revan said to the family dog, who likely had been told to accompany him. Even as the elder brother, Shatele spent just as much time worrying for his safety as he did for her's, "Here you go and don't say that I never gave you a treat." Revan threw a small biscuit above Rabbit, which the mabari jumped up to catch in it's jaws. Thankfully, Revan never had to imagine what would happen if he was on the wrong side of the dog's bite.

* * *

><p><strong>Ostagar Ruins, War Council<strong>

"Loghain...my decision is final." Hearing a king arguing with his subjects was always a good sign. Durin sat back with the others and listened to the meeting of human nobles and their king with careful ear into their conversation, "I will stand beside the Grey Wardens in the coming battle."

"You risk too much Cailan." The older noble, Loghain Mac Tir from the sound of it, "The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero."

"If that's the case perhaps we should await the Orleisan forces after all."

"I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we require the Orleisans to defend ourselves."

"It is not a fool notion." Cailan told his advisor, "Our arguments with the Orleisans are a thing of the past."

"If I may object with respect, your majesty." Another lord brought up, Arl Urien as Durin had overheard earlier, "Perhaps it isn't wise to blindly trust those who'd previously enslaved us."

"I understand perfectly...but the two of you will remember who is king." It was almost as bad as the Assembly back in Orzammar. If one sentence isn't right, they bicker and argue with their rightful king, "Besides, they're mostly composed of more wardens if what Duncan told me is true." Duncan merely nodded to the king. Like the other wardens, the warden-commander had remained silent during the meeting. Which seemed odd to Aeducan, he was always led to believe that Grey Wardens assumed direct command during the Blight.

"How fortunate that Maric did not live to see his son hand Ferelden back to it's oppressors."

"Then our current forces will have to suffice." Cailan turned from Loghain and faced the gathered Grey Wardens, "Duncan. Are your men ready?"

"They are, your majesty." Duncan's gaze drew from the king and to Revan who'd just arrived. The king followed Duncan's eyes and grew excited from Revan's arrival, as he had with the others.

"Young lord Cousland, I understand that congratualations are in order for you...as with your companions..." Needless to say, the king had a...less than warm opinion of certain new inductees of the Grey Wardens. Particularly Durin himself, who was still wearing the Templar armor from that incident earlier in the dary and Mairon.

Especially Mairon.

"Thank you, King Cailan." Revan told the King with a bow and walked over to stand next to Duncan. The city elf gave Revan an unsettling look before focusing her very hateful gaze on Arl Urien.

"I don't feel all that special..." The city elf muttered.

"Not as though I had a choice anyway." Brosca stated, no doubt whining that the surface wasn't as kind as the stone. The stone was in the foundations of the earth, did the castless think he could escape his place in the world by getting some sunlight?

"Nonsense! Every Grey Warden will be needed, you should be honored to have officially joined their ranks."

"Your fascination with legends will be your undoing Cailan!" Loghain bursted out, he wasn't all too thrilled with Grey Wardens doing their logical duty, "We should attend to reality."

"Because the fact that Grey Wardens have always been the ones to fight and end blights are legendary flights of fantasy!" Loghain was getting on his nerves, Durin couldn't help but not contain his outburst, "If you think you can fight the Blight by yourselves then by all means! Just try to fight the darkspawn without us."

"Anyhow...let's see about Loghain's boring strategy." Cailan stated to diffuse tensions, he walked over to the war table where a map of Ostagar was displayed, "The Grey Wardens and I will draw the darkspawn to attack our lines."

"Then you will alert the tower to signal my forces to charge from cover-"

"To strike the darkspawn. Yes, this is Tower of Ishal." The King didn't seem to intent on heavy details, "Who shall we leave this to?"

"If I might make a suggestion." The Castless spoke up with hand raised, "Straight on fighting is great and all, but what do ya surfacers got that would slow down the enemy?"

"The usual tactics." Cailan casually answered, "Hail of archery and hounds."

"Great and all...but what about traps?" The whole council stirred at Brosca's suggestion, "There's a huge wide open area between you and them right? Just lay out a bunch of traps...you'd be surprised."

"That's an excellent idea..." Cailan agreed like a little boy, "Why didn't we think of it before Loghain?"

"I can think of a reason." Mahariel muttered, earning a growl from Revan. It was a wonder that Duncan was saying nothing after that speech he'd given earlier.

"All we have however are some containers of shrapnel, caltrop, grease, and fire traps." Loghain listed off, "Nothing that will destroy the horde on it's own."

"Just put the shrapnal and caltrop traps in the fields in between you and where they'll come from." Brosca suggested, using an arrow to mark on the map, "The fire and grease traps can be placed on the outside of the woods."

"Or...we can set the bloody forest to the ground when they enter it." Mairon snapped his fingers to spark a single flame on his finger and ran it across the charted forest. The Cailan was visibly shaken while the rest of the meeting regarded the Mage Warden with caution.

"I...agree with Amell..." Mahariel stated, "The darkspawn will taint the trees anyway...better that their death is made to serve us."

"Then send word immediately! Relay to them the instructions of Warden Brosca! And tell the scouts to avoid the woods!" Cailan told a nearby messenger who ran off towards where the main army was preparing for the battle ahead, "As for the Tower of Ishal..."

"I have a few men stationed there." Loghain answered, "It isn't a dangerous task but it is vital."

"Then we shall send our best." Cailan turned to Cousland, "Revan, I'll leave you, Alistair and your fellows to light the beacon."

"You rely on these Grey Wardens too much." Loghain rebuked his king. Durin was surprised that Cailan was allowing it, their whole tone of conversation was alike to a father-in-law speaking with his daughter's husband.

"I agree with the Teryn." Urien spoke up, "Especially given, the more questionable members of their sortie."

"If you want to call me out go right on ahead." Lily flipped onto the table and sat down, staring straight into Arl Urien's eyes.

"Silence knife ears! I will not be talked down to by my son's murderer!" Urien shouted, though Lily merely tilted his head, "Grey Warden or not, once this is over, I will see you hanged from Fort Drakon itself-"

"Perhaps you should remember who is king, Urien." Cailan stated to the arl, coming between Lily and Urien, "For as long I am king, the Right of Conscription holds. This woman is a Grey Warden, or would you dare to defy my father's proclamation?"

"Your majesty, the tower and it's beacon are unnecessary." A before silent mage stated, "Just have one of the Circle mages-"

"We will not trust our lives to your spells mage," The also before silent Chantry priestess interrupted the mage, "Save your sorcery for the darkspawn." Then again, the mage had a point. Why not use Surface magic to light the beacon?

"Excuse me? Why are you here?" Durin asked the older human woman. She seemed surprised that she was even spoken to by a warden.

"I am the Grand Cleric of-"

"Yes, the leader of a Chantry." Durin told the priestess, who was now growing more frustrated upon seeing that this was the dwarf that wore Templar armor.

"That is correct-"

"Then why are you interfering with the affairs of wardens and kings when you should be attending to raising morale by telling the troops that their Maker is with them?" Was that not the point of religion? To put the masses at ease in order to allow them to better perform their tasks? At least that was how Durin always understood the role of religion.

"You dare tell me my-"

"Aeducan does have a point." Mairon spoke up, delighted to double team the grand cleric, "King Cailan, surely a Cleric has no place in a war council other than to give the Maker's Blessings, no?" One of the other mages clapped as the grand cleric, humiliated and brought nearly to tears stepped back in line.

"...A wonder performance." The second mage, a man in his mid-forties, "But despite our preference, no mage here has the accuracy or power necessary to light this beacon. We shall turn our efforts towards supporting the troops. By unleashing upon the darkspawn every ounce of our RAGE!" The mage flicked up his fingers as he did a strange stuttering hiss that made several guards chuckle with contained laughter.

"Yes Profion!" Mairon joined in, it all made sense now. This Profion must've been one of Mairon's senior's in the Magi Tower, "The hordes of the darkspawn shall feel the wrath of magic-"

"The king stated for you to light the beacon Mairon." Duncan told the mage, causing him to snap his fingers in disapointment, "My lords, you should also consider the possibility of the archdemon's appearance."

"There have been no sign of dragons in the wilds." Loghain reported, "Though...we have had scouts who thought they heard a dragon's roar. But nothing as large as an archdemon."

"Isn't that what your men are here for Duncan?"

"I...yes." Durin wasn't quite so sure of Duncan's confidence now. True there were few wardens, but maybe there was no real plan.

"Speaking of which, what is the plan for when the archdemon appears?" Of course, it would be the Casteless who'd ask the obvious.

"We kill it of course." Cailan answered, "Actually...you kill it."

"Arrows through the eyes, burn of it's wings somehow and watch it fall." Lily chanted, lying on the table and using one of her knives to edge her nails.

"Enough!" Loghain, really wasn't doing a good job at pretending to enjoy the company of Grey Wardens, "This plan will suffice!" Loghain threw up his arms and turned from the council.

"Thank you Loghain." Cailan called out, "I cannot wait for that glorious moment. The Grey Wardens battle alongside the King of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil."

"Behead the Archdemon and march it back to Denerem as a trophy." Revan joined in, "Along with a banner smired with Howe's blood."

"Yes Cailan. Glorious moment for us all." Somehow, Durin had a feeling that Loghain's annoyance with the Grey Wardens, frustration with the king and paranoia of Orleis would probably screw them over eventually. After this battle, he would likely become a voice of dissent and try to start some civil war, all while ignoring the obvious overarching threat of the Blight.

Or maybe it was just Durin still sore over his brother.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Come on now, none of us saw coming what Loghain did right? At least not as soon as he did.**

**Also, fanfic will be labeled in the categories of Cousland/Amell for the time-being. But this does not mean we'll have a shift in priority. The story will still be about all of the wardens. Cousland is up because there are two Couslands and Amell, because it won the coin toss.**

**Also, they were the first main characters with speaking roles.**


	6. Ostagar: War unto the Breach

**Duncan's Bonfire**

"You heard the plan. All of you will go to the Tower of Ishal to ensure that the beacon is lit." Duncan stated to the seven wardens.

"What?" Alistair wasn't too keen to this recent task, "I won't be in the battle?"

"This is by the King's personal request Alistair." Duncan said to the ex-templar, "If the beacon is not lit, Teryn Loghain's men won't know when to charge."

"So he needs a group of grey wardens to stand on the tower and hold the torch just in case right?"

"I agree with Alistair, not all of us are necessary." Gilead pointed out, "Cousland, the mage and the rogues perhaps, but my bow would be better heard in the open plains."

"Dwarves do well in tight spots." Durin added, "Though I would prefer the open field for a change."

"Actually, I agree with wanting to stay outside." Gimli countered, "Less places for people to sneak up and-"

"That's not for us to decide." Revan stated to his fellow wardens, "If the King of Ferelden, who commands every single soldier in this fort, wants us to ensure that the beacon is lit. That is what we'll do."

"So if he told you to jump off the top of the walls would you do it?" Lily inquired of the Cousland noble.

"I'm loyal, not stupid. There's a difference." Revan answered Tabris.

"You sure you know that difference?" Revan simply rolled his eyes and attempted to not glance over to the city elf. There were more important things at stake right now.

"Revan is correct." Duncan's face was unchanged, but his tone indicated annoyance at the questioning of his charge, "The Grey Wardens are required to do any task in order to destroy the darkspawn. Even the insignificant roles may play an impact on the coming battle."

"I get it I get it." Alistair gave in, "Just so you know. If the king tells me to put on a dress and dance the remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no." Just then, the sound of slow, rhythemic clapping was heard.

"Bravo Alistair, way to take to stand!" Mairon complemented while he continued to clap slowly.

"I have my dignity...well some." Alistair told the mage, much to Duncan's annoyance.

"The tower is on the other side of the gourge in the king's camp. The way we came when we arrived"

"We just got here today, how would we forget that?" Lily said to the Warden Commander.

"You'll need to cross the gorge and head through the gate and up to the tower entrance." Duncan continued, ignoring the remark of his charge, "From the top you will oversee the whole valley."

"When do we light the beacon?" Revan asked.

"We will signal you when the time is right. Alistair will know what to look for."

"What will we do then?" Brosca asked the commander.

"Stay with the Teryn's men and guard the tower. If you are needed, we will send word."

"How much time do we have to double check the essentials?"

"The battle is about to begin, make your preparations quickly." Duncan answered the Casteless, stating it as a warning for the other assembled wardens, "After I leave, you will have less than an hour."

"Are we in any danger?"

"Of course. Even the best prepared plan can be derailed." Mairon looked as though he wanted to smack Mahariel for that stupid and obvious question.

"Still..." Lily said, "I don't like this plan...just a bad feeling..."

"It's simple enough." Revan reassured her, "Between us and the army, what could go wrong?"

"What could go wrong? I've got a bad feeling?" Brosca told the two, "The two of you are asking for something to go wrong you know?"

"What about if the archdemon appears?" Mahariel asked, his shoulder trembling as he said the word archdemon.

"We soil our drawers that's what we'll do." Alistair joked, earning a chuckle from Brosca.

"Or I can freeze off his wing, Gimli and the Elf can shoot out it's eyes and then we'll carve out his flesh and have a feast with it." Mairon stated, "Assuming it died from the crash we'd induce."

"If that happens leave that to myself and the other wardens." Duncan stated to the new wardens, "I want no heroics from any of you."

"Yes, leave the heroics to that idiot Calian and his merry band of soldiers." Gilead repeated with a smirk.

"My my, don't you sound brave Master Elf." Revan was agitated by Mahariel's remark, but remained focus on the coming battle.

"From here, you are all on your own. Remember, you are now Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title."

"Duncan." Alistair hesitated, but went on, "May the Maker watch over you."

"May He watch over you all." Duncan then walked from his still lit bonfire and preceded to leave the sight of the newly made wardens.

* * *

><p>"Let's just get to the tower, it may not be the most glamorous job but we'd best not dawdle." Alistair suggested to the new wardens, seeing that none of them were taking his lead however. He simply signed and went for the gorge.<p>

Revan sat against a small stool, nervously biting on the leftover bone from the lamb leg Rabbit had brought earlier. The dog was sitting next to him curiously as though he were asking what was wrong.

"Where is your sister?" Revan didn't bother looking up, he knew it was Lily likely prodding for another reason to piss on him.

"In the tower." He answered.

"Suppose that's why you're not objecting to this role that's been picked out for us." Lily said, streching her arms over her blue hair as Revan looked up to meet her eyes, "Look...what I said about your mother..."

"Are you trying to apologize without seemingly giving in to a human?" Seeing that he'd hit the mark, Revan continued, "I won't force you to strain yourself before the battle. I accept your intention."

"Don't think this means we're friends." Lily retorted, somehow Revan wasn't at all surprised to be honest.

"Never did." Revan admitted as he sat up, "So long as your hatred for my kind doesn't threaten the fate of my country, I'll take it."

"Don't brush me off as some pissy little girl." Tabris barked as Revan walked past her, "We might be against this blight, but it doesn't change how your kind treats mine."

"I'm not arguing with you. I've simply come to accept your point of view." Revan stated and turned back to face her, "Likely, you've faced enough humans who mistreated you to believe that all of us are bad. However, I have neither the required state of mind nor the time to try and convince you otherwise."

"I take you think that you believe yourself to be somehow better and above the rest of your kind." Seeing she'd rubbed a sore wound on the young Cousland, Lily smirked and curtsied the human noble, "So long as that attitude doesn't get me killed, I'll take it." Revan shook his head as the city elf left for the gorge.

"What?" Why Rabbit would find anything amusing about that exchange was beyond the Cousland, even if they're smart, mabari were still dogs and still...strange, "Think we'll be friends after this battle?" The dog barked happily, Revan exhaled as he knew what his loyal hound had answered, "See, this why I wish I were a dog sometimes, everything's so much simplier."

* * *

><p>"That bow." Gimli brought up to Mahariel as they sorted through their ammunition of arrows and bolts, "You're not bad with it."<p>

"Same to you with Kalah." Gilead replied to Brosca, "Though I doubt it requires much skill to wield a crossbow."

"You mocking me?" Gimli inquired, eyeing the dalish very carefully, "I built this baby from scratch. You? You cut off a branch, tied a rope to it's ends and called it a bow."

"And yet, both of your weapons are inferior to my ax." Durin stated to the bickering archers, "Forged of Dwarven steel and shall not burn under flames as cheap wood such as yours."

"Though I doubt any of you can match the shield of Highever, I have an idea." Revan suggested, confidence jumping from his armored form, "Let us consider this a contest. Whoever slays the most darkspawn is the better warden. Deal?"

"Oh I see." Durin stood up and brushed his beard with the flat of his axe, "Very well, allow me to explain how this...contest will occur." The gathered wardens decided to indulge the former casteless, "You, Brosca, Revan and myself are obviously proficient with our weapons of choice. Each of us are a match for any single darkspawn. However, it is inevitable that Mahariel and Brosca will leap ahead of the rest of us by at least ten because of their bow and crossbow while the rest of us must wait to get close to the enemy."

"I'm liking how this sounds so far." Brosca admitted, it was rare for a noble to admit that a casteless had an advantage over them.

"Therefore, the two of you will remain ten kills ahead of us..."

"Then what is the point of your-"

"Until you run out of arrows and have to use your low-quality axes and short swords." Mahariel and Brosca narrowed their eyes despite knowing that Durin spoke the truth, "At which point you shall cease to make a meaningful contribution to this battle."

"Oh! Oh! Can I add a point?" Though they knew they would regret it, they allowed Amell to say whatever it was that he had to say, "I'd just like to point out that I'm squishy."

"And?" Was the mage trying to mock the others? Brosca honestly couldn't tell.

"Therefore, I'll take more damage than any of you if I go first." Mairon continued, "So I'll need you archers and fighters to keep the enemy away from me."

"Why should we-"

"That way I will be able to draw on the nigh limitless mana pool of the fade to take full advantage of the very wide threat range of my magical talents that ranges through pure concentrated mana, psychological torment, spiritual manipulation and elemental devastation." The four wardens regarded Mairon quietly, as if they realized that there was a closer danger than the darkspawn, "Just don't try to run away, a lightning bolt only needs a single point of metal to home in."

* * *

><p>C- "Thus the battle of Ostagar began..."<p>

V- "Ten years later and people are still talking about it."

O- "Well it was a major turning point in Ferelden history given what all happened after that battle."

C- "Could it be called a battle? I've been told that Cailan's strategy was...less than adequate."

V- "That's because you've only heard from people who heard from other people who heard from soldiers who retreated with Loghain."

C- "And you would be able to give a better account Dwarf?"

V- "Unlike those others, I know people who were actually there."

O- "Then by all means, give this next part the proper intro."

V- "You're too kind Ferelden...Let's see..."

* * *

><p><strong>Field of Ostagar<strong>

Thunder boomed through the skies as the soldiers of Ferelden awaited the battle that loomed just beyond them...

Archers held their bows at the ready, dogs barked at the evil that none could see but in some form or another, all could feel...

The Holy Mother passed through the ranks, singing final rites for those the Maker had ordained to die and for those who would live forever changed by war.

"The plan will work your majesty." Duncan assured the King of Ferelden as they emerged from a stairway leading out from the ruins of Ostagar.

"Of course it will. The blight ends here!" Cailan called to the Warden Commander as they took their place on a barricaded ridge above the main group of the gathered army. From here, Cailan and Duncan overlooked the immediate field, allowing them to make any tactical change necessary in response to any sudden change.

"Nervous Carver?" Down on the field, two brothers from the town of Lothering stood within the vanguard of the army. Most of the men looked terrified and the army hadn't even shown itself yet.

"Do you have a reason why I shouldn't?" Carver asked his older brother, while he was barely come to manhood, Carver's elder brother by 6 years was already growing a remarkably tough seeming beard.

"Remember what that captain said?" Carver heard his brother ask, "Stick em with your blade enough and they'll go down."

"I still don't think you should be here." It wasn't just fear of being overlooked to worried Carver, his brother carried a secret. A secret that originally had their mother want him to stay home, but the eldest came, leaving their mother and Carver's twin sister behind in Lothering.

"And leave the fate of Ferelden in your hands alone?" Carver really hated it when his brother snarked like this was a light occasion. Didn't brother take a hint from the great storm that brewed above them?

"Quiet down you two!" Likely the company captain, Carver and his brother refocused on the horde that now showed itself.

A mighty line filled with creatures that stood upright like men, but had the faces of demons and the mindsets of beasts. The hurlocks seemed akin to little green goblins from old bedtime stories told to scare little children, but the hurlocks...they were more akin to walking corpses. It looked as though their skin could melt off of their heads at any time. Towering over them was a at least a dozen ogres, massive muscular demon with curved horns portruding from the top of the monster's head. But while most of the horde leapt up and called in anticipation of the battle to come, the ogres gave off an image of calm. As though they were living flood gates preparing to burst open upon their hated foes.

Carver stood his ground as did Hawke, but several soldiers trembled upon seeing this mighty horde. One soldier in particular, a volunteer from Dragon's Peak, back upped as if he were preparing to flee for his life. But stopped upon meeting the hand of a Royal Knight, the knight gave one look at the volunteer and he stopped running. But he didn't try to take his place back in the vanguard either.

"Mages!" Cailan called from above the army, "Fire!"

"LET THEIR BLOOD RAIN FROM THE SKY!" One of the Senior Mages cried out as the mages scattered amongst the ranks released their gift from the Maker. The soldier's felt a tremble in the earth as they watched the ground quake beneath the darkspawn horde they saw. The clouds lowered over the darkspawn and spewed forth a chained storm of lightning as fire built up around the trees from which they emerged and sparked a firestorm within the woods concentrated upon every inch where a darkspawn lied.

Even without those three major catastrophes, many lesser mages were simply firing into the hordes with either the mana of their staves or the moderate spells they had learned and mastered. Much to his frustration, this also included Carver's older brother.

"He said mages, no?" Was all he had to say for himself after firing a fireball into the horde. Despite being on the front line where everyone would see him. Sometimes Carver wondered why father placed him in charge of the family with such abandon as he now demonstrated.

The Army was awed and filled with fear at the power of magic demonstrated to them. Such power, such mastery of mana, it was no wonder that Andraste stated that magic was to serve man for it was far to easy for it to dominate him. So great were the darkspawn casualties that many hoped that the darkspawn would turn around and flee back to the deep roads now. If they could, the forest behind them had been aflamed by the firestorm of the Circle Mages which cut off that route of escape.

A pale blue glow sudden shined out from the forest and erupted into a burst of white energy that swept through the aflamed forest and blinded the forces of Ferelden within Ostagar. When the glow was cleared, the army saw that the magical onslaught had been stopped, the darkspawn slowly regathered their strength as though nothing had happened.

But that wasn't what had Gregor, a bearded man who stood next to Carver, stricken with fear and dread to where Carver's brother was no longer as confident. Upon a rock before the darkspawn vanguard stood an armored warrior arrayed in armor that allowed the figure to stand out from the rest of the horde.

He held nothing but a single staff arrayed with a red runic glow running down it's shaft, a sword and shield was sheathed and slung upon his back. The figure was arrayed in silver runic armor that looked left over from a much earlier age. It's imprinted runes gave off a light blue glow that contrasted with the Red emblem of a winged dragon upon the front of the chestpiece. It's similarly winged helm betrayed nothing about it's wearer despite the T-shaped visor, but the sight of those small white eyes looking out from the helm, it was as though one wondered through the abyss and then the abyss looked back.

The newcomer's arrival seemed to have inspired the darkspawn for now they roared at the army as though daring another onslaught. The woods that they tread through had been burned, but that burst of mana that most assumed to have come from the warrior kept the trees from being burned completely and only allowed for the horde to replenish it's numbers far more easily. Even the King's wavering confidence could no longer be hidden as he looked to the army then to the darkspawn and back to the focusing Duncan.

The figure held up it's staff and stabbed into the rock he stood on causing the army to cringe at what he would unleash. Fortunately, the warrior did nothing of the sort. But the Hurlock Alpha at the front of the horde flung out it's sword as the Darkspawn began their charge. They ran over the corpses of those felled by the magic storm as though they were no different then the grass of the earth. As the hurlocks and genlocks ran, the ogres marched briskly as rocks through a raging tide.

"Spring the traps!" At the King's command, a single soldier ran out in front of the army and cut a rope that he picked up from the soil. This caused hundreds upon hundreds of spiked balls to fly up upon the field immediately lying before where the darkspawn charged. Uncaring or knowing of what this meant, the darkspawn tread over the field. As soon as they did, hundreds of darkspawn slipped upon the grease covered ground, tripped upon spiked balls that now rested in the ground, or were covered with metal shrapnel flung from the armed traps they had set off.

"Archers!" Within the main body of the army, along the bridge or within the ruins of the fortress, archers readied their bows and fired upon advancing darkspawn. It was easy to pick their targets, they focused on the darkspawn who had avoided the trap-filled perimeter. Unless they're arrows were aflamed, in which case, they shot straight into where the grease lied to set it on fire, burning all of the darkspawn still trapped in it's sticky surface.

"Hounds!" At the King's word, the troops let loose the dogs of war and the mabari let loose a mighty roar. Though slowed, the darkspawn advanced with abandon, all to eager to take the hundreds of mabari charging towards them eagerly.

To Carver, it was rather tragic to watch. He was actually grateful for allowing his brother to persuade him to keep their hound at home. If he had been brought along, the poor thing would've been mounted on some darkspawn spear. Not to say that the mabari weren't slaughtered or that they didn't put up a fight because they certainly did. But they simply weren't built to go toe to toe with armored legions such as these. Carver wasn't alone of course, hundreds of soldiers, including the King himself, winced at this sad waste of life.

"For Ferelden!" The King cried out with his sword pointed towards the advancing horde. At once, the vanguard gave a battle cry and charged into the fray, hopes high and prayers said. Many on that frontline would most certainly die and it would not be a glorious death either. But they fought for their homeland, they fought for their families and their friends. Dying was always frightening to mortal men, but to know that death would come for a greater good, that gave them some comfort as the gap between them and the surge of darkness closed.

* * *

><p><strong>Ostagar Gorge<strong>

"A nice start." As much contempt as Dalish culture had for the Shemlen, Gilead was amazed enough by the start of the battle to ignore the large flaming boulder that flew over and hit into the ruin behind. Causing all but him and Mairon to flinch from the crashing sound. Gilead was focused at the moment. Focused on keeping track of the differences between darkspawn emissaries, alphas and regular rabble. Noting how they reinforced and supported the ogres that charged into the fray.

Never losing sight of the figure in the silver armor who remained upon that same rock watching the battle. Who was that warrior? It had emerged from the darkspawn and the they surged past him as though the warrior was one of them, but the warrior certainly didn't seem like one that would emerge from a ranks of the darkspawn. Whoever he was, Gilead kept his eye open for anything the warrior might do.

"Hey Gilead!" Brosca called from further along on the bridge, "I've got eight already!"

"I'm on fourteen!" Gilead called back before firing another arrow from the high ground of the bridge. Ever since he heard the King's cry for archery, Gilead had started firing into the horde, though it was unnecessary, his sharpened sight allowed him to follow his arrow enough to confirm a true hit.

"How are you keeping track of your kills?" Gilead heard Durin ask, likely to distract him before he got to far of a lead. While what Durin had said was true, the dwarf would be surprised as to how many arrows you could fit on your form.

"Let's just get across and get to the tower." Following Alistair's suggestion, Brosca and Mahariel ceased fire and joined the others in crossing the bridge. As they ran, a boulder slammed into a nearby balista and all but Aeducen to the ground and threw several of the soldiers near it off of the bridge.

"How come you're still standing!" Brosca cried in outrage as the group picked themselves up from the ground.

"The stone favors me Casteless." Durin answered with obvious pride, "Besides, I am wearing heavy armor and therefore that makes me heavier and harder to knock down."

"Won't that make it harder for you to get up when you do fall?" Mahariel pointed out, referring to the simple notion of the bigger one was, the harder it fell.

"That's besides the point, when in heavy armor it's harder to be knocked down." Both Gimli and Mahariel were speechless at the impossible logic of this dwarven noble.

"We'll discuss this after the battle!" With Brosca looking as he'd gained a head injury, Gilead agreed to postpone this pointless debate until after the battle was over. Despite another boulder slamming into the bridge, the group encountered little difficulty as they approached the area where they had first arrived at Ostagar. There, two soldiers were already running down from the ramp leading up to the Tower of Ishal.

"The tower...it's been taken!"

"What?" Alistair and several of the wardens were shocked by what one of the soldiers had said, "What do you mean?"

"They came up from the lower chambers..." The other soldier, a captain from the look of his helm, "The whole tower's overrun..."

"Then we'll have to light the beacon ourselves." Alistair stated aloud, the wardens stood in place for a moment, they're gaze fixed on the Tower of Ishal, knowing without the need to feel them that darkspawn overran every level of that tower.

"You!" Revan walked up to one of the soldier's and grabbed the collar of his chainshirt, "A young girl with yellow hair...did she-"

"I was in the higher levels and I saw a lass...with yellow hair." The soldier's friend, a younger fellow who had a large wound over his shoulder answered as Revan released the first defender, "Last I saw, she'd stayed behind to give everyone else-"

"So you're going to help us liberate the tower, no?" Revan asked the soldier. The soldier gave a single look back at the tower and ran off to the side as more soldiers trinkled down the ramp by less than half a dozen at a time.

* * *

><p>Mairon laughed inwardly as the un-magical soldiers ran like cowards. How they even survived was beyond him, but he honestly didn't care. At least until he saw an individual robbed in mage clothes run down the ramp followed by a soldier with a mangled leg who just fell down and waited to bleed to death.<p>

"What's your-" Mairon started to cry to the mage who'd ran out of the tower, until he recognized her as someone he knew...rather well, "Lealion Surana?"

"Mairon Amell?" The red-head mage ran over to Mairon and grabbed his face. She sniffed his nose and nodded to herself, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a Grey Warden now," Mairon told the elven mage, "You?"

"I came here with Wynne and got assigned to the tower" Lealion replied, "Great to see you..."

"Wish I could say the same..." Mairon confessed, earning a subdued smirk from Lealion, "There's two mages...I'm no longer unique..."

"Except that I've been trained to heal."

"Whereas I am the justification of people's fear of magic."

"Everyone wins!" Mairon and Lealion clapped their hands over their heads as more soldiers ran down the ramp and gathered themselves within the ruin.

"We need to go about this intelligently." Durin stated to the wardens, "Two groups of four to act as the van and rear guard and a group of three to follow the van."

"Revan, you lead the van! Mairon, you go with him!" Alistair suggested, as far as Mairon was concerned, this meant that he would get first choice on who to kill, "Was the door locked?"

"I don't know...maybe..." The captain answered, still aghast that this small group honestly considered retaking the tower.

"Fine with me." Tabris said, obviously volunteering to go with group one. So long as she and Cousland didn't try to kill each other while fighting darkspawn then so be it.

"I'll take the rearguard, you three are with me." Durin offered and gazed towards the captain and soldier as if daring them to try and run. Lealion on the other hand, was all too eager to Mairon's satisfaction.

"Then the rest of us will be in the vanwagon." Mahariel said referring to himself Alistair and the trembling dwarven rogue, "Nervous Gimli?"

"I've just never gone into a situation that I didn't think was smart."

"Steal your courage friend," Mahariel assured the former casteless, "It is better to meet fate head on than to hesitate upon the brink."

"Are you all nuts?" Gimli shouted at Mahariel, "Are you actually gonna try to climb a four floor, 150 foot tall tower that's just been overrun with just the ten of us?" Hearing a bark, Brosca reminded that a Mabari Hound was amongst them, "Alright eleven! But really? We need reinforcements!"

"What about them?" Durin added, pointing out the group of soldiers crowded within the ruins. Few weren't unhurt but all of them seemed terrified of what they just fled from.

"We might need those meat shields." Mairon thought aloud, earning a growl from Rabbit, "What? I'm only being honest." The dog continued to look at the mage with a look of sheer and utter disapproval. It's master stood at the base of the ramp, looking straight towards the Tower of Ishal in deep thought. As if he realized something, Cousland lowered the visor of his commemorative helm and marched towards the few dozen survivors of the Ishal garrison.

* * *

><p>No one knew when it had happened.<p>

They were told that it was a vital, but minimally dangerous assignment. Most of these men assigned were newly inducted soldiers from Gwaren who had barely seen enough winters to be counted as men. Some were from other parts, more seasoned in the ways of combat but not nearly enough to account for having fought in a major battle.

They had watched the opening moves of the battle below them with awe and amazement. Their hopes raised when their king charged into the fray.

Those hopes were dashed immediately and replaced by screams of pain and shock. Maybe they came in from the tunnels that had been discovered earlier but were supposed to be barricaded, maybe they climbed the walls and burst in while the garrison was distracted.

Whatever happened, more than half of the garrison lied slaughtered before anyone realized that they were under attack. Anyone lucky or aware enough to survive fled down the stairs as fast as they could. If you were unlucky enough to be higher than the second floor then you were probably already dead. Second or First, then you had a chance, if you were outside then the darkspawn didn't bother stopping you from fleeing.

Out of that garrison, only four dozen at most survived and huddled on the walls on opposite sides of the ramp they had fled down. Coming from the gorge, a small group of what seemed like Grey Wardens had arrived and planned to retake the tower and light the beacon for the Teryn's forces.

Before it happened, the garrison had been excited about the Grey Wardens. They believed that the wardens would help them fight the darkspawn and it would be a glorious victory just like the king said it would. After what they saw, all of that enthusiasm faded. Even if they had a chance, there were only seven wardens, a mage, a dog, and two garrison captains lucky enough to have been on the first level when the attack began.

Not like the others.

"You there! Sons of Ferelden!" One of the wardens, a man who's face was hidden behind his visor, approached the survivors, upon his right arm was the shield of Highever to the north, "I see on your shields the banner of Highever my home, Denerim, Amaranthine and Gwaren! Are these not where Ferelden's greatest sons fought with their last breath when Orlais overwhelmed us over ten generations ago? Yet here you are fleeing in the hour in which our country needs you the most!"

They had heard the stories. Of how their grandfathers and fathers had fought and some had died to liberate their nation from the Empire just to the west beyond the Frostback Mountains. They had been told in their beds of the Battle of White River, where none but fifty survived when they fought to the last man for their homeland. Of how the legendary shield of Highever still bore the scars from when it's wielder fought to his last breath defending the last king to hold Ferelden before the occupation.

Yet here they were, the descendants and successors of their forebearers, now cringing in fear when the road first grew dark and covered in blood. Some could not shake off the fear of what they saw in Ishal true, but ever now they were filled with disgrace at what they had likely brought upon their beloved homeland.

"Do not mistake my words for judgement but nay! Two objectives lie within that tower which I and my fellows must meet with all speed gathered beneath our feet! I sense now that the darkspawn we will face number will above a hundred...too many for us to face and still have the time to light the signal for the most force of Gwaren to seal our victory! I ask not for you to throw away your lives but to stand once more and alongside the Wardens of Grey, charge through the surge of darkness! I call upon you to rise and charge once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! Or close the wall up with our Ferelden dead!"

Mad man, Champion, Fool, Warden. The soldiers all regarded this man with these varied opinions as they slowly rose to their feet.

"In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility. But when the blast of war blows in our ears then imitate the action of the tiger! Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard favored rage! Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Let pry through the portage of the head like the Qun cannon; let the brow overwhelm it as fearfully as does a galled rock overhang and jutty his confounded base, swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean. Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit to his full height. On, you noblest Ferelden!"

Another boulder slammed into the Ostagar ruins as the soldiers felt their courage grow despite the fear that still filled their hearts.

"Dishonour not your mothers; now attest that those whom you call fathers did beget you. Be copy now to men of grosser blood, and teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman!" The yeoman from a farm in South Reach drew his sword upon being called upon by the Warden who spoke to them, "Whose limbs were made in Denerem, show us here the mettle of your pasture; let us swear that you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not! For there is none of you so mean and base that hath not noble luster in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start!"

"The game's afoot!" The Warden turned from the soldiers and towards the ramp from which echoed the cries of the darkspawn beyond it, "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Shatele, Ferelden, and King Cailan!' "

"Shatele! Ferelden! And King Cailan!" Their spirits remustered by this warrior, the survivors of the Ishal Garrison charged up the ramp, led by the warrior who had invigorated their spirits with the power of his words and courage.

* * *

><p>"Sure knows how to move a crowd." Lily smirked and followed after the reinvigorated soldiers alongside Mairon, who didn't look like he approved of having the garrison re-enter the battle within their will.<p>

"Nice speech, I bet he read it somewhere." Brosca remarked ran alongside Mahariel flanking Alistair. They instinctively decided to let the reinvigorated soldiers take the brunt of the inevitable defense and then pushed through that battle to enter the Tower. Least that was what Brosca thought the plan was.

"At least the meat shields are more willing." Mairon murmered as the garrison charged wildly into the darkspawn practically waiting for them within the ground behind the ramp. Mairon even "blessed" one of the first into the fray with a special surprise for the darkspawn who would inevitably surround and overwhelm him.

"Let's hope they last the night." Aeducen muttered as he led the captains and Mairon's mage friend up the ramp and into the battle that had already broken out.

"They won't." Gilead said in answer to Aeducan's comment. He was no fool, bravery and courage would get you no where unless Mythal dictated for you to live. If not, then Falon'Din would guide their mislead souls.

If Falon'Din deems the shemlen worthy which Gilead very much doubted.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**"Once more unto the Breach" is one of the greatest speeches of all time...it can even motivate little boys to eat spinach for crying out loud! So should we surprised that it roused horribly demotivated and mentally scarred soldiers into a charge that they probably won't last the night to tell about?  
><strong>

**Did anyone else think Alistair was talking about the Riverdance instead of Remigold? Is River dance really that bad?**

**Kuddos to anyone who catches the DM of the Rings reference!  
><strong>


	7. Ostagar: Further Up and Further In

**Tower of Ishal, First floor**

"Hurry up!" Though it was not directed to anyone within, the sound of warfare and cries of fury and pain vibrated into the entrance corridor of the Tower of Ishal. With it's invaders further in and further up, no one was around to question who was yelling outside it's front door.

"I'm working on it!" Another voice, a rushed female answered as locks of the door fell, undone from the outside, "Got it!" The doors of Ishal threw open, allowing a slender elven woman in a cured leather tunic to slip in and swipe her knife through the throat of a pursuing hurlock. She kicked the hurlock down and swerved to avoid the thrust of a following darkspawn. She then stabbed into the darkspawn's face and neck with both knives before allowing it to fall forward dead.

"Into the tower!" Her fellow grey warden called from outside. A mabari hound, it's mouth and fur covered in blood, leapt into the entrance along with several battered, but invigorated soldiers. Amongst them was a young man in commerative steel armor wielding a sword and knife with the shield of Cousland over his left arm. Behind and around them were the darkspawn they had struggled through four ramps to pass by and slay.

"Help!" One soldier outside was not quite as lucky, he hobbled towards the door from outside. His arm had been torn off and a missing chunk of meat gave a limp to his movement.

"I can do better." Said a mage who'd been following this small counter assault group. While Lily and Revan were engaged with the darkspawn still trying to tear at them, Mairon approached the wounded soldier and grabbed the man's face. A green glow emitted from the man's face as Mairon pushed him outside into a large crowd of darkspawn. The soldier gave one last scream before the mage's mana tore into his spirit and instantly reduced him to blood and bone that blew out like an explosion, throwing down and scorching the darkspawn that would have killed the soldier anyway.

"Hold the door!"

"Nah." Mairon Amell swung the door and closed it, turning to face his comrades as a dying scream echoed from outside, "If we kept it open then the darkspawn would keep following us."

"Maybe we should've actually thought this out!" Lily Tabris cried towards the leader of this assault, who was using a rag to wipe blood from his dog's fur and jaws.

"Don't look at me, you're the ones who followed." Revan Cousland replied as he stood back up and left the entrance way of the tower.

"What?" Lily could not believe what that man had said as he ran off followed by his hound and the few soldiers who managed to survive, "Hey! Get back here shemlen!"

"I suppose that I should-" Mairon's attention was turned from his advancing comrades as he recognized a carving within the frame of the door, "Tevinter architexture! Oh...the very air of this place fills me with such glee!"

"Seventeen!" Gimli Brosca called as Alistair bashed open the door and tossed aside the darkspawn slumped on his shield. Behind him, Gimli had his back to door, firing into the crowd of darkspawn following them up the stone ramp, "Eighteen! Nineteen!"

"Twenty three!" Gilead Mahariel sang, the string of his bow singing through the night as the dalish made his way through the crowd, "Twenty-four!" The elf swerved to avoid the blow of a two-handed sword and fired an arrow straight into the eye of his attacker. Due to the short distance, the arrow flew through the armored hurlock and embedded itself in the neck of a hurlock behind it. The hurlock struggled to pull out the arrow before blood loss and a bolt through the skull claimed it's wretched life.

Gilead sprinted up the stairs, but seeing a fallen warrior on his last throes, the elf bent down and silently drew out a dagger to slit the man's throat and instantly send him beyond the Beyond. He turned around and jumped through the doorway as Alistair stabbed the hurlock that had pursued him and used his shield to push out the hurlock's fellows. The ex-templar then leapt back and waited for a few surviving soldiers to close the door.

"By the way, thanks for closing the door on us." Gimli admonished Mairon though he gave up since the Mage clearly didn't care, "Where's the rest of your group?"

"Outside getting slaughtered or up ahead with Tabris and Cousland." The mage answered, motioning further into the tower where the sound of dying darkspawn and soldiers were heard.

"Sadly, I'm not surprised." Alistair admitted while wiping blood from his face, "Especially with your "careful" aim!"

"Open the door!" A dwarven voice called from outside. Rolling his eyes, Brosca opened the door and fired at the first thing he saw. Sadly, it wasn't a dying dwarf noble, but a darkspawn who had an axe embedded in it's spine and was pushed along by Durin Aeducin. Durin kicked the hurlock vanguard off of his axe and swung around to cleave another foe in half before the two soldiers who had been with him ran past.

"Back off!" Down the ramp, Lealion slammed her staff into the ground, forming a symbol of green energy that encompassed the large group of darkspawn chasing her. The magical properties of the spell prevented them from moving further and allowed Lealion sprint up the ramp and into the open doorway while Gilead and Gimli continued to fire. Durin closed the door as the symbol started to wear off while Mairon and Lealion placed their hand on the door to form a similar symbol upon it, "That should hold them till we're done in here."

"We should've made him say the magic word." Gimli mused as the wardens and remaining defenders took a moment to breath.

"Amusing though it may have been, now is not the time." Gilead lightly disagreed.

"Your counts, master archers?" Durin inquired, "I'm on eighteen."

"Wow...you're way behind-"

"How many more bolts do you have left casteless?" Remembering what Aeducin had said earlier, Gimli huffed as a reply, "Not very many from my viewpoint."

"You know the thing about bolts and arrows?" Gilead asked the dwarf noble, "They're easy to come across and cheap to build."

"While your conversation might be very lovely and informative," Alistair said, pointing further into the tower, "I must bring your attention to the objective that should be completed in a timely manner!"

"So...what are you guys trying to do?" Lealion asked, holding her staff over her shoulders.

"Light a beacon at the top of the tower." Mairon answered.

"Really?" From the look on her face, Surana seemed to have expected a more pressing task, "Why can't we just shoot it with a fireball-"

"I asked the same question, believe me."

"Damn Muggles." Lealion muttered to her fellow mage as the group advanced further into the tower. As they traveled, they recieved a healthy look at the colorful designs the darkspawn had created with the blood of their victims. Entering the central hall, they were faced with a hastily built wooden barricade with several soldiers impaled through the wooden planks. Some of whom still wore faces of horror upon their features.

With Alistair leading and Durin in the rear, the group moved quickly but quietly as they passed over the corpses of recently killed darkspawn, most of whom had either stab or cut wounds. But a few, including a Genlock Emissary, were missing gashes of flesh that could only have been taken by the bite of some feral beast.

Leaving that room, they came upon the vanguard of their mission within the ruins of a makeshift bunk for the first floor barracks. Revan, Lily and the remaining soldiers of their group were engaging the darkspawn with the tide remaining in their favor. A Genlock stabbed a soldier in the back and pulled him down to bite into his neck and rip out a messy strip of bloodied flesh. Caught between this mad act and seeing an arrow pierce another Genlock, the creature was too distracted to avoid the jaws of the Mabari hound that clamped onto the genlock's head and with a violent jerk, break the connection between the spine and the neck.

"I've gotta get me one of those." Gimli remarked as the group rejoined the vanguard and quickly cut down the remaining darkspawn.

"Is everyone alright?" Alistair asked after that skirmish was concluded.

"As alright as we can be." Revan told the ex-templar, he surveyed the group as he breathed, "We made it inside."

"Yes, I'm surprised any of these soldiers survived at all." Mairon remarked, ignoring the condemning glances of several garrison survivors who saw this mage turn their comrades into human bombs.

"The day is not done." Gilead stated after plucking an arrow from a recent kill, "How many more floors must we traverse?"

"The beacon's on the top floor, sir warden." The Garrison captain answered, "That means we'll have to fight through the second and third floors before we can really breath."

"Well, at least we're inside." Lily reminded the group while reaching into her tunic and reluctantly tossing an injury kit to Revan who gave it to a wounded soldier with a broken arm, "Can't imagine the upper floors being too much more difficult."

"Fortunately, we still have the element of fear and surprise." Durin brought up, "Therefore, they will be too shocked by surprise and fear to adequately learn about this tower's strong points."

"What about ruthlessness?"

"Well that goes without saying, Casteless."

"You know, I have a name. Please use it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think you can swing that axe before I pull the trigger on Kalah." Gimli pointed out while aiming at Durin.

"Agreed." The Dwarf Noble said without blinking, "Though I doubt you could take this tower with one less armored warrior. Especially since none of you are heavy."

"Whatever the case, we need to get moving." Alistair suggested to the company.

"Up through the breach fellows!" Revan shouted as he stood up. Though he was a bit perplexed by the confused look of several soldiers, "Up the stairs." Thanks to that clarification, the remaining garrison soldiers rose up and followed the wardens out of the bunk and towards the stairs to the second floor.

* * *

><p><strong>Second Floor<strong>

"Maker's Breath! What are these darkspawn doing ahead of the rest of the horde?" Alistair breathed after the group made it up the stairs to the entry hall of the second floor, "There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here."

"Then try telling them that they're in the wrong place." Lily suggested, wincing as she pulled an arrow fragment out of her arm and quickly applied a bandage on the wound. Though they had killed most of the darkspawn in the Central and first floor bunks, a few rogues managed to evade detection kill three soldiers while wounding several others.

"Right because clearly this all a misunderstanding, we'll laugh about this later!"

"And yet you were the one complaining about not being able to join the battle." Durin brought up to Alistair as the group advanced cautiously further in.

"As my grandfather used to say," Brosca commented, "Further up and further in."

"Sounds like a line for a place we'd want to be in." Gilead noted.

"Think you've got it tough? I was supposed to be in Gwaren." One of the Garrison soldiers remarked as he threw away his broken longsword and drew out a spiked mace.

"And I was on my way home to Highever." Another soldier said as he took off his helmet.

"You might want to-" Mairon was cut off when an arrow slammed through the head of soldier from Highever, killing him instantly. "See that's why we have helmets fool."

"Nevermind, we have friends who so poorly miss us." Durin stated as he, Alistair, Revan and the garrison soldiers charged towards the line of hurlocks that were snarling with blood lust. Alistair and Revan were the first to engage, using their shields to bash down their first target and immediately stab it before it got up. Revan swung up his shield to bat the head of a nearby hurlock as Durin leapt into the crowd and sweeped his axe through the darkspawn, killing two and crippling the last before he spun under an attack and bashed the pummel of his axe into the face of his attacker.

As Alistair stabbed a hurlock while using his shield to beat the face of another until it collapsed from concussion, Gilead and Gimli continued to alternate shooting while counting off their kills as Lily leapt onto the heads of the hurlocks and quickly ran across them while they were distracted with the main group. She then jumped down and tossed a flask of blue liquid back before rolling to the side. The flask broke when it hit the back of an armored hurlock and splashed it's content over the main part of the darkspawn, causing them to gnash as the air condensed and froze them solid.

"Please step aside!" Mairon called as he and Lealion summoned hot mana to their hands and sprayed fire over the group of darkspawn while barely giving the others time to duck and cover. Those who had been frozen were instantly melted while others were frenzied by the flames that began to consume them, making them easy prey for the rest of the wardens to finish off.

"In here!" Lily called out, stabbing a hurlock in the face and kicked it back before retreating into the open door of a side room. To the annoyance of some, more of the darkspawn were pouring into the room led by a masked hurlock emissary emitting red mana from it's hands.

Knowing what was coming, Alistair quickly signaled to jump to the sides. The warning served them well as a fireball flew from the emissary's hands and impacted the center of the entry hall. The wardens were singed, but they would have had worse injuries without the warning. Thinking quickly, Brosca pulled a small tube filled with a grey substance and after placing it within an arrow, loaded it into Kalah and fired.

The bolt struck the ground in front of the darkspawn and blew out to create a shroud of grey and black smoke that obscured both groups from seeing the other. Remembering what Lily had pointed out, the groups decided to make for the side room and the one across it before the darkspawn regrouped or figured out that smoke was not a wall...

**...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x**

"We should be alright for now." Revan assured the four soldiers with him, Lily and Gimli, "They've only got one way to come in." To make his point, Revan slightly opened the door and smirked as Rabbit poked it's head out and pulled in a hurlock by it's foot. Revan closed the door after stabbing another darkspawn and watched the soldiers butcher Rabbit's catch.

"That was some quick thinking Gimli." Lily told Brosca as he sat against the wall and counted out his remaining bolts.

"Where I'm from, that's the only way you survive." Gimli stated, "Anyway, you're the one who found this little hide-out."

"When in doubt, know you're way out." Lily answered.

"Wise words." Revan complemented as Rabbit pulled in another hurlock to be slaughtered as the Cousland noble closed the door again, "We need to find a way to get out of this."

"What about that other door?" Gimli inquired, bringing the attention of the others to another door in the back of the hall, "I say we use it before the darkspawn find out about it."

"These are darkspawn," Lily told Brosca, "The Chantry teaches that they are mindless beasts of instinct and ferociousness-" Just as Tabris spoke, a hurlock burst through the door armed in heavy armor with bladed gauntlets and a double sided sword already drenched in dried blood. The Hurlock shuffled it's weapon from hand to hand as it twirled with it's sword like some made frenzied dance.

"I believe you overlooked ferocious?" Gimli asked as he pulled out Kalah and fired a bolt through the hurlock's eye, causing it to crumble into a heap as it's comrades entered through the open doorway and charged what they believed to be easy prey. "Thank the Stone, some things never change!"

**...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x**

"Please..." A soldier barely murmered as he used all of his strength to hold on to the door despite being pulled out by darkspawn, "I have a son..."

"Pity..." Mairon stated as he sat in front of the guard, noting how some of the creatures were fighting over a leg, "What's his name?"

"Adem...please..." The soldier held out an arm to reveal a necklace that he gripped in his hand, "Give this...to him-"

"Thank you!" Mairon snatched the necklace from the man's hand and "annointed" him as he pushed him out the door. With a free meal now pushed to them, the darkspawn wasted no time in tearing off the man's armor and ripping into his flesh as Mairon closed the door. "His death shall be followed by the death of many darkspawn." Despite the mage's explanation, Gilead and Alistair still remained horrified. That horror only increased when a loud boom slammed into the door to confirm what the mage had done.

"Noted." Durin charged past the elven archer and out the door when Mairon opened it. The remaining darkspawn regrouped in the adjoining room where some had already engaged Revan's group who had pushed their way out of a side door amidst the chaos of the skirmish.

"Balistas...Kalah?" Gimli loved the work of his own hands, but there were a lot of darkspawn which made the choice easier, "Think I'll give you a break old girl." The casteless dwarf slung his crossbow upon his back and worked his way through the mechanism of this human-made balista. There was only a single bolt loaded however, which meant the dwarf would have to aim carefully and at only one target.

Fortunately, emissaries make themselves pretty obvious. Brosca pulled the lever to fire the large metal bolt across the ballista's stock. Not only did it rip into the emissary's chest, but it also created a shockwave that killed a few more darkspawn, breaking the structure of the darkspawn's group momentum and leaving them vulnerable to the Wardens as the hunted became the hunters.

"You cheated."

"Cheating's the only thing that's kept me alive." Gimli told the Dalish archer when they met amidst the counterattack, "And you for that matter."

"I was speaking of the score." Gilead clarified before firing an arrow through the skull of a Genlock archer, "Each shot only counts as one."

"No, they count for how many I killed, besides you'd argue for them to be equal if we were in opposite places-" Grimacing as a dagger cut into his shoulder, Gimli acted on reflex and threw out his leg to trip the Genlock rogue that had attacked him. The rogue then slammed Kalah's stock onto the rogue's head, splashing dark blood all over his jacket.

"Thanks for watching my back-" Gimli was quieted when he saw that Gilead stood exhaling with two dead hurlocks lying beneath him. One had an arrow lodged through his skull while the other lied dead with multiple stab wounds in it's shoulders and chest. Gilead himself was holding his bleeding left arm.

"We must be more wary." Gilead stated to Gimli as the dwarf threw him a health poultrice, "Thank you."

"What? You think I could storm this whole tower by myself?

"Could we move along friends?" Alistair called to the archers from the room ahead. Fortunately, they had managed to clear out the remaining darkspawn with only minor injuries or inconveniences. But with knowledge that the fate of the battle outside henged on them, the wardens pressed on without allowing themselves time to bask in their success.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Floor<strong>

"Teryn Loghain better be ready to charge once the signal is lit." The group had finished the trek up the stairs to the third floor, receiving a disturbing look at the darkspawn addition to the Tevinter architexture that made a soldier vomit.

"Isn't that why he's in hiding?" Durin inquired.

"You get the point!" The group advanced into the entry hall cautiously. Passing under the vision of the wide-eyed corpses mounted on the walls of the entry hall as if to warn of those that lied ahead.

That warning seemed pretty pointless as there were no sign of any darkspawn in the adjoining hall. Just wreckage and turned over tables, remnants from the hasty retreat from earlier.

"Looks like we took care of most of them coming up." One of the remaining soldiers remarked.

"Or maybe they jumped out after hearing us come up." Lealion suggested as they treaded carefully.

"What about that door?" Mairon inquired, bringing the group's attention to the door leading into the next hall. Alistair and Revan went to the door, following by Gilead, Brosca and two soldiers armed with shortbows picked off of the dead.

"Shouldn't you go with them?" Lealion asked her fellow mage.

"Why?" Mairon replied as Alistair and Revan stormed through the door after Lily unlocked it to see the darkspawn waiting for them, "Besides, it's only one genlock." True to Mairon's words, only a single Genlock, an alpha from it's tattoos, stood next to row of cages filled with barking mabari.

"I don't like this."

"What?" Gilead asked concerning Gimli's remark. It seemed that Gimli's words had spoken for the whole group as no one was rushing towards the Genlock Alpha. Furthermore, Rabbit was growling and swiftly turning it's head as if it smelt something bad in all directions.

"Remember the whole groups we were fighting and now that we're close to the top, there's only one on this level?" Gimli did have a point. Furthermore, the genlock was standing armed with a dagger, as if daring the wardens to attack it.

"Perhaps they all went to the top floor?" Gilead brought up, though he himself doubted it.

"Or maybe, this is a trap!" Before Gimli could take his shot, one of the Garrison soldiers ran out in front of him and charged for the genlock, "Get out of the way you damned-" The soldier was swept off his feet and gasped as a red point burst out of his chest. As the soldier gargled for air, he was lifted into the air by the unseen creature that was revealed through the soldier's blood. As the shocked group watched, the tall and lean, blood covered creature brought up it's other arm and stabbed through the young man's throat and violently ripped it the blade out to decapitate the soldier as blood sprayed over it's revealed features.

"Andraste's sweet moist pus-" Revan was cut off when the creature gave an ear-splitting shriek that overwhelmed his hearing and from what Revan felt on his ears, caused them to bleed. The rest of the group was similarly affected as more shrieks filled the hall while the creature disappeered from sight.

"Form up!" On Alistair's word, the wardens and allies formed into a tightly nit circle with their backs to each other as they slowly retreated back into the other room. Gilead and Gimli kept their weapons trained on the Genlock, but didn't fire to conserve ammo for the more immediate threat of that creature.

"Rabbit! Get over here!" Revan called to his mabari, which had huddled into the corner of the hall rather than join the circle, "Don't make me-" Years of living with the hound however, had given Revan a great sense of what Rabbit was loudly barking about. What he heard, completely unnerved him, "Wait...break off! They're behind-" Cousland was halted when an organic blade pierced his arm as the creature appeared in the middle of their circle. At the same time, three others appeared with it and felled two garrison soldiers as the wardens were scattered from their position while a few more of these shrieking monsters leapt down from the ceiling to mulilate their prey.

Cousland threw out his arm in an attempt to dislodge this creature while it used it's other arm to stab through Revan's shield still slung on his back. Deciding that eventually he'd either die from blood loss or blunt trauma, Revan focused his strength and used the dagger in his left hand to slash through the creature's wrist blade and fell to his knees in shock from having a blade through his arm. Fortunately, Rabbit leapt over Revan and tackled the creature, biting into it's face and swiftly wrenching it's head out of place, killing it instantly...

Gimli had known that this whole situation was a trap, but he had to listen to the damn surfacers. Now he was forced to let Kalah get scratched as he used it to block the relentless attacks of the creature that assaulted him. While still holding Kalah with one hand, Gimli reached into his jacket and pulled out his "contingency axe" and immediately threw it at the creature's leg. Fortunately, it's lean build meant that the axe had little trouble in slashing into the creature's flesh, throwing it forward off it's feet. Gimli quickly grabbed the axe and after pushing the creature onto it's back, started hacking into it's head...

Gilead's bow was knocked from his hand by the creature that assailed him, immediately causing him to draw his daggers. Though only forged of iron, he knew enough of combat to know how to quickly end a fight. He swerved under the creature's lunge and stabbed upwards into it's mandibled chin before bringing the other dagger across it's throat before it could recover...

Mairon regarded the situation calmly, shoving his fingers into his assailant's eyes and firing a miniature arcane bolt, though only miniscularly powerful, he did manage to blow out the creature's eyes. He then stepped back and watched it tackle another of the creature's and violently slash it in it's blind fury, but not before it slashed Mairon's arm by reflex. Deciding the creature had had it's fun, Mairon held up his hand until he felt something about his wound...

Durin noted how annoying this creature was. It's cries echoed in his ears like a bad lullaby, or the song of a drunken dwarven bard...the worst kind of bard. Fortunately, his armor managed to prevent the creature's bladed wrists from harming him, leaving Durin entranced by how annoyingly persistent it was. Finally having enough, Durin grabbed the creature's neck and pulled down it's head before bringing it's axe and decapitating it in a single motion...

Tabris was swerving and twisting as she lied on the ground, barely avoiding the blades that had already left a long cut that ran from her lower chest chest down across her stomach. One of the creature's thrusts ran across her shoulder, the pain jolting her mind as she went into action. She remembered the knives on the ground next to her and grabbed them as the creature struck again. This time, Lily stabbed the offending arm and pushed herself up and over the creature and stabbed down into it's neck as gravity took care of the rest. The creature was thrown onto the stone floor as Lily stabbed into it's back and violently wrenched her knives through it's body...

Alistair breathed as he pulled his sword out of the creature's head. Fortunately, he had held up his sword in reflex and one of the bastards fell right on it. Unfortunately, it also fell and died on top of Alistair, forcing him to use this time to dislodge himself. As he regarded the slain creature, he reminded himself not to tell Duncan about this particular detail.

"What the bloody hell were those?" Revan demanded as he pulled the blade of the creatures out of his arm while Lealion quietly cried over her broken staff, sacrificed when she madly swung it into the skull of the creature that attacked her and fired a point blank bolt into it's mouth on accident.

"Sharlocks." Lily answered and grumbling when most of the group remained confused, "Shrieks in layman's terms, darkspawn stalkers that give out a chilling shriek capable of stunning their prey with fear and surprising them with their death."

"Fear and Surprise, Surprise and fear..." Durin mumbled to himself, "Our enemy is far more cleaver than we dwarves ever dared think possible..."

"Little late for this guy though." Mairon noted, lightly kicking the headless warrior who lied still on the ground.

"Then the rest of you will will suffice, no?" An agitated Lily asked, content when the group simply nodded.

"What about the dogs?" Revan asked as he caught an injury kit that Lily threw him. The noble did a double-take, but shrugged his shoulders and slowly applied the kit to himself and Rabbit.

"Leave them." Mairon's suggestion was met with a feral growl from Rabbit, "Fine, let em out." With their battle plan in mind, the wardens returned to the cage room where that genlock still waited, only this time it was flanked by several hurlocks. Rabbit had, however, already ran over to a lever on the other side of the room and with it's mouth, pulled the lever to open the cage doors where the mabari were imprisoned.

"Those hounds..." Gimli said as the mabari tore through the darkspawn as rats did to cheese, "Can we keep one?"

"After the battle." Gilead answered as he picked off the retreating darkspawn with his bow. Leaving this room and the adjoined hall seemingly clear.

"Looks like the remaining darkspawn have holed up in those rooms." Alistair pointed out, though the other wardens could figure that out from the growls and calls they heard.

"We'll burn em then." Lily stated, walking up to the first of the three rooms lining the hallway and swiftly opening the door, "Incoming!" She threw a flask filled with a red liquid inside before slamming the door shut. She jumped up and braced against the door as a flamed briefly blew out from inside.

"When did you learn to make those?"

"Bought the recipe from the quartermaster." Lily answered Revan as she peaked her into the room to see if there were any survivors, "One of those goods that he didn't want passed to too many people."

"I would've thought you'd have stolen it from him." Gilead remarked as he walked over to another room and checked the draw-string of his bow.

"Except that there were guards all over the place and the man was armed and...you get the point." Lily brought up, quickly picking the lock of a burnt but still intact chest, "I steal only what I can't afford."

"Wouldn't that be everything?" Gilead asked as the city elf pulled out a silk rug.

"Most of the time, yes it is." Lily answered as she closed the door.

"Let's just go save my sister." Revan said as he and Rabbit went for the other room at the end of the hall.

"If she's still alive." Mairon called out, "Brosca, do you happen to have any grease traps?"

"Where do you want it?" Mairon cracked upon the door and didn't flinch as a darkspawn hand reached out from inside, "In you go!" Gimli fired a clear arrow into the room and watched as it hit the ceiling and spilt it's contents onto the darkspawn inside.

"And now to cleanse ourselves of this madness." Mairon said as he threw out his hand and sent a surge of flame into the room, allowing it to react with the grease and surge into a powerful miniature firestorm that baked the darkspawn inside alive. "I always wanted to do that!" Mairon laughed as he closed the door behind him and joined Lealion in watching Gilead and Alistair dispose of a group of darkspawn in the last room.

"Forty-Two." Gilead stated as his last target fell upon a bed, an arrow lodged through it's nose.

"Does it really matter?" Alistair asked the Dalish as he slung his weapons onto his back, the room left covered with darkspawn corpses and blood.

"Not bad for an impoverished elf." Durin remarked, his axe and Templar armor covered in blood, "Forty-Three."

"When did you get to Forty-Three?"

"Crowd control." Durin told the elf, referring to the next room where Revan and Rabbit likely were fighting the darkspawn inside, "And you'll find that there aren't many resources for creating more arrows within this place my friend."

"Maker's Breath, are you all sure about who's the enemy?" Alistair asked, the crowd of released mabari running past to join the nearby fray, "At least the mabari aren't suffering confusion about the matter."

* * *

><p><strong>Top Floor<strong>

Anticipation, a sense of coming to the finish drew on the wardens. They were nearing the end of this debacle, the beacon lied just up these stairs and then the battle would be decided in their favor. To their relief, there wasn't a large open or hidden crowd of darkspawn waiting to assail them.

There was only one.

A large muscular creature that looked as though it were savagely drinking something. The horned creature turned it's head towards the stairway, drool still dripping from it's mouth and immediately rose up to it's full fifteen foot height as it rubbed the slobber from it's mouth. It then roared in challenge, daring these newcomers to face the strength of the darkspawn shocktrooper.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Incoming Challenger: Ogre!**

**Though funnily enough, does anyone else notice how built-up ogres were in the beginning of the game but later on became pretty much like fighting over-sized grunts? So you're probably thinking, how can one ogre be a challenge to our six wardens?**

**Be not afraid for I have a plan.**

**Also, what's the "lore" name for ogres? I always found it confusing that hurlocks and genlocks are general names, but sharlocks are referred to as shrieks and ogres are just ogres.**

**Another thing I want to address is rather or not darkspawn have high intelligence. The game clearly states that the commanding figures amongst them have enough to lead the group, but it's never really shown to what degree this intelligence shows. We see that they can form a coherent army or large battle group; a great degree of coordination; and can tactically adapt even after you've killed their leading figure.**

**Does this mean the darkspawn could destroy the Lord of the Rings orcs? BLASPHEMY!  
><strong>


	8. Ostagar: Signal the Darkness

**Top Floor, Tower of Ishal**

"Damn...that's...big..." Gimli muttered as the group stood facing the massive ogre in the middle of the room. They're gazes fixed upon it's purple hide, it's large biceps and muscular form. The horns that barely resembled a deers only thick and already covered in blood.

All except Revan, who stared past the Ogre's leg to the figure lying still in the middle of the tower. The one with blond hair that the ogre unceremoniously kicked to the side before turning back to the wardens.

It took it's eye off the ball.

You see, by the time the ogre had turned back, a certain human noble had already started charging for the ogre like a madman with all weapons drawn. Seeing this human as no different than the humans it had already killed, it brought up it's arm to slap the human aside.

Then the human's weapons stabbed into it's arm, stopping it in place.

Cousland flipped up onto the Ogre's shoulders, ramming his shield into the side of the creature's skull. The ogre reeled from this assault and pulled it's head and chest back, causing Revan to fall down to the creature's stomach. He managed to hold himself up however, by stabbing his sword and knife into the creature's front.

Howling in unexpected pain, the ogre was momentarily unable to prevent the noble from using his blades as impromptu picks to climb along the ogre's body. It finally returned back to it's senses when it saw that the noble had now climbed up to it's neck. The ogre roared and finally wrenched the human from it's body with a grab of it's right hand and moved to punch the puny human until it was nothing more than a pile of meat and crushed bone.

That was when a shield was thrown into it's eye, causing an unbearable amount of pain. So much so that it didn't see when the puny human jumped from the ogre's now loosened grip stabbed his blades into the top of the ogre's head. Two sharpened points of metal lodged through it's skull, the ogre madly danced with it's head twirling everywhere, attempting to dislodge the human from it's head. After several seconds, it succeeded and momentarily lowered it's head in relief of the pain and terror it had felt.

That was the last emotion the ogre ever felt.

"Remember what I said earlier?" Gimli said to Mairon as they watched the ogre collapsed onto it's chest, Revan's longsword lodged through the ogre's head after the noble had used both hands to thrust it down after being lifted off.

"Glad he's on our side, right?" Mairon stated as the human noble rolled off of the slain ogre and took a moment to breath. By the time he heard his hound's whimper, Revan looked over to where the group gathered around the fallen figure, ignoring another ogre that lied still against the adjacent wall with a claymore stabbed through it's neck.

"How is she?"

"Alive...barely..." Alistair answered Revan, though the answer seemed inappropriate. The girl was heaving horribly from a crushed ribcage, all of her limps were broken, her head was terribly miscolored from brushing and blood dripped from her mouth. In short, she wasn't doing well at all.

"Let's fix that." Lily bent down to where Shatele lied and pulled out her last injury kit, "Here, drink this...it should help." The girl however, was in too much pain to open her mouth, forcing Lily to gently pry open the girl's broken jaw and slowly apply the kit without choking her.

"I've got it from here." Lealion stated, brushing Lily aside and holding her staff over the gasping blond. A light blue glow emitted from her arms and flowed to the staff before it flowed down over the girl.

"Wait...why didn't you heal my friend!"

"Magic can't heal a missing head." Lealion told the last surviving garrison soldier, "If it helps, I got his arm to twitch." Thanks to the injury kit and Lealion's magic, Shatele's injuries were starting to dissipate, allowing the girl to breath more and more easily. Revan knelt down beside her as she started to stir and open her eyes.

"Brother!" The girl latched onto Cousland immediately and pulled him into a tight hug that would suffocate anyone unused to the girl's strength.

"It's alright Shatele." Revan whispered, allowing his sister to sob on his shoulders. Gimli wiped a tear from his eye as the group found themselves watching this tender scene between brother and sister. Perhaps some were reminded of loved ones that they had left behind, maybe they sought a plausible excuse to forget about the battle that they would soon be rejoining, or maybe the moment was simply cute.

"What about the others?"

"You killed the other one-" When the impact of his sister's words hit Revan, the entire group felt the floor shaking as something started pounding on the wall opposite of the stairwell. Some of the wardens were too stunned by this turn of bad luck to be afraid. They shook their heads in utter disbelief when a massive form crashed through the wall in front of the stairs, another broke it's way through the wall opposite of the stairs and a third crashed down from the ceiling and landed with a cracking noise.

"There were five of them." Shatele said as the group faced the three massive ogres that had broken their way into the floor. One was identical to the two that were already slain, but the one that had crashed down from the ceiling was arrayed in crude, but strong looking metal armor that covered his upper body as if it were some mal-formed knight while the other brandished a pair of large hooked cleavers and wore a helm over it's head.

"Well...shit." Gimli muttered, "The Surface gods have a sense of humor."

"Stand aside!" Mairon demanded, a certain distortion of air around the mage didn't leave much room for argument, "And witness the true, uncontained might of **MAGIC**!" Mairon stretched out his arms, revealing a long cut that ran across his arms. But instead of spilling, the blood floated out and into the forming vortex of mana and lyrium that evaporated from the lyrium potions on his belt.

"What are you doing?"

"I read about this spell in a tome Profion gave me." Mairon stated to a shocked Lealion, the vortex resting in between his arms, "Some ancient Tevinter offensive spell that breaks down air, combines those particles with mana and with a healthy dose of blood as the catalyst, will create a destructive wave of pure chaotic magic that should incinerate those ogres where they stand...and maybe kill most of you due to the massive shockwave that this attack will produce."

"Blood?" Alistair asked in shook, connecting the dots and realizing what this meant, "You're using...blood magic!"

"Blood Magic..." Gilead muttered in anger, "That is the art of the Dread Wolf!"

"What is this blood magic?" Durin inquired, amazed at the amount of opposition drawn from this art of magic.

"Cursed arts forbidden by the Chantry." Lily answered, "Magic that perverts the essence of life and turns it into a destructive force."

"Isn't that the point of magic? Turning air, lightning and other aspects into forces of destruct-"

"Don't bother, dwarf." Mairon said as the vortex started to emit lightning that struck the wall and floor around the mage, "This technically isn't specifically a blood art, the blood is just used to more safely combine the lyrium and mana without killing me. But call it what you want."

"Is anyone really going to contend when result is plainly obvious?" Gimli inquired, deciding for a different approach when most of the group turned to the Casteless in utmost disagreement, "You know...we could just fight them, right?"

"True..." Mairon admitted as the vortex decreased in magnitude and only a faint blue aura rested around Mairon's arms, "But what fun would that be!" The mage threw out his arms at the same time as a great light filled the tower and obscured everyone's vision...

* * *

><p><strong>Outside...<strong>

The battle was wavering back and forth on the fields before the ruined fortress of Ostagar. With their superior training and armor, the Ferelden army managed to competently hold the line against the main horde of the darkspawn.

However, for every darkspawn felled by the soldiers of Ferelden, ten more filled their place. The horde was very large, far more numerous than anyone dared imagine. Though a match for any man, hurlocks could be easily slain with a good strike of the sword or a well-placed shot from a bow. Genlocks were even easier to an extent due to their shorter size. Even the mighty ogres, though it took considerable effort, could be defeated through smart tactical manuevering. The problem lied in the fact that they threw themselves upon the army with such abandon because their numbers could be almost instantly replenished.

Another side effect was that the darkspawn were also able to use their own numbers to hide the smaller forces that sneak through unknown entrances to the ruins and launch their own strikes.

That was how Aveline Vallen, a volunteer soldier with the Third Company came to find herself on the East wall of Ostagar fighting against a squadron of armored and shielded hurlocks supported by an unseen force of creatures known as "Shrieks."

Just as she spun around and slashed her sword through the spine of a shriek before it struck down a comrade, the stone of the Tevinter architexture shook as something brought a faint glow to the darkened sky. She looked in the direction of the Tower of Ishal, her eyes wide with disbelief from seeing a beam of spiralling blue energy blast out of the top of the tower and strike the sky, parting the clouds as it went.

"Maker's Breath, was that the signal?" One of the younger soldiers, a lad from West Hill, said in shook as the darkspawn themselves broke ranks and fled.

"Might as well be, inform the Teryn!" Aveline called out to the soldier, effectively standing in place of their recently mutilated captain, as the beam weakened and died out, "Now I see why the King trusts the might of the wardens..."

* * *

><p><strong>Tower of Ishal<strong>

"Not that I'm complaining..." Lily calmly said as the smoke cleared, "But...HOW DO YOU MISS THREE 20 FOOT OGRES?" As Lily had said, though a large hole had been blasted in the wall of the floor, all three ogres remained intact and unharmed.

"Because shut up." Mairon said as he panted, blood running all the more from his cut open forearms.

"You see, life is somewhat like a game." Durin stated, "In that game, you are required to roll dice. As with any game, there is a one in twenty chance of something we dwarves call an epic fail."

"What's the difference?"

"An epic fail is a failure of catastrophic proportions." Durin answered Gimli, "Consequences so terribly horrible that they leave a lasting impact on the very order of the cosmos like a tear in the heavens themselves and affect the world as one would when tossing a pebble into a pond."

"For instance, we have one less mage to throw at them?" Alistair asked Durin as Mairon passed out onto the floor.

"Yes."

"And they're prying out of the loosened debris for rocks to throw at us?" Gilead inquired as one of the ogres turned towards the large hole in the wall and used it's great strength to pry loosened or damaged stone from the outline of the wall.

"Obviously."

"Does Revan have any unstoppable rage left?" Gimli asked, hoping that the Cousland would be able to finish the three off out of "love" for his "sister".

"Think he used it up saving his sister from that first ogre."

"Are the ogres stupid enough to be tricked?" Lily inquired while drawing her "Knife-ears".

"Unlikely." They're options clear, the wardens faced the trio of distinct ogres.

"Bring it on." The dual wielding ogre slammed one of it's cleavers into the ground before it charged for the wardens. As it neared them, they were forced to split apart or be struck by the stone breaking strike the ogre followed up with, leaving Gimli on his back before the ogre with Kalah aimed for it's neck. Gimli fired as he knelt, his bolt striking the ogre's helmet and throwing the creature into a confused haze. Allowing the rogue to roll under the creature's legs...

Alistair, Revan, Lily, Shatele, Lealion and Rabbit were faced with a large problem soon after dodging the dual wielding ogre. The least armored ogre was infuriated by the smell of ogre blood coming from the Couslands and turned towards it's ready supply of loosened boulders behind it. Almost giving a smirk, the creature picked up a piece of debris with each arm with ease despite their size and hurled them, one at a time towards the targeted group...

Mairon was still lying on the floor, his body still exhausted from the spell he had attempted to use, dumbfounded that he had missed a perfectly good shot. If he missed one of them then it wouldn't have been as bad, but all three? Mairon would have to contact Profion to ensure that there wasn't a part of the spell he was missing.

In the meantime, he did notice the others struggling against the three ogres. Gilead and Durin engaged the armored ogre with particularly little success. The monster's large size, plus armor to protect it prevented any of Mahariel's shots from making a lasting injury on the creature while Durin's axe only had minimal success in melee.

The mage regarded the entire scene very oddly, perhaps it was the fact that most of his blood was drained from his body but he didn't feel an immediate need to participate in this battle. However, he did notice how the elf and dwarf warriors were slowly drawing their battle towards the wide hole in the wall of the tower floor and an idea formed in his head. So Amell sat up and slowly walked over to the armored ogre fight, giving a brief glance to the other group still struggling between the dual-wielding ogre and unarmored one throwing rocks. They would be alright, if not, why should he care?

It's not as though all six were needed to end the blight, right?

Still somewhat out of it, the mage charged an arcane bolt in his right hand while using the left to charge a slightly weaker bolt, a very daring plan was working through his mind. He finally stopped and turned to fire the weaker bolt into the back of the dual-wielding ogre, leaving a burn on the creature's back. Angered, the ogre ignored the elf that jumped on it's back and started stabbing it while looking for the spine and stalked over to the dazed mage with a drawn out cleaver.

Mairon didn't even attempt to dodge, allowing the cleaver to impact against his faintly powered magic barrier that allowed the full force of the blow to knock Mairon into the air. And clash his side against the armored ogre's helm, the one with the more carefully charged arcane bolt.

The attack must have gotten into it's visor because the creature was now madly flailing backwards, the elf archer in it's hand shooting it in any vulnerable points he could find while the dwarf noble had actually leapt onto it's stomach in an attempt to try and cut under the creature's armor. All of this contributed to leading the ogre to the edge of the hole in the top floor with only bare instinct keeping it from falling into an agonizing fall.

Thankfully, a well placed bolt knocked into the chestpiece of the armored ogre, it didn't penetrate but did give just enough leverage for gravity to pull the ogre out of the tower, taking the three wardens with them...

* * *

><p>Contrary to what their master had believed, the humans of Ferelden had managed to hold their line well at Ostagar. Though far more numerous and in position to take advantage of numerous recently made or discovered entry points into the fortress, the darkspawn had yet to overcome the humans. It helped that their armor and weaponry was somewhat more advanced than what the horde had faced during previous blights and that they had learned from those blights as well.<p>

**He** had believed that the smaller number of Grey Wardens in this country would work to the horde's advantage, instead it only made them harder to pinpoint within the ranks of the humans. They had adapted and planned ahead, just as the humans had. **He** was proud but not stupid, **He** was willing to admit underestimating the human's ability here in Ferelden.

But that did not mean defeat was inevitable nor that it was near. Apart from the increasing fatigue of the enemy, **He** had already set in motion events that would ensure that this victory would crush the unity and resolve of the Ferelden humans.

Amongst these events was a Warrior in Grey Runic Armor similar to the silver knight that stood in place down on the mainfield. The warrior stood within a group of slain knights and two grey wardens whom he had slain with ease and creeked his neck as he looked up towards the tower where earlier a great blue light had shot out of the top floor and now an armored shape was falling out of the resultant hole. The suprise attack on the Ishal Tower had not worked as well as hoped, **He** knew the human's would use the tower to alert possible reinforcements, that was why it was constructed. But it wasn't a matter of the attack failing, but how it had failed.

That was what the Runic Warrior was being sent to find out.

* * *

><p><strong>Base of the Tower of Ishal<strong>

"How did we survive that fall?" Gilead asked as he stood up from the ground and looked up at the Tower from which he had just fallen from, he himself hardly remembered he he had fallen in the first place.

"This haystack." Durin stated, pointing out the haystick pile that the two of them were lying in, "I believe that it cushions us from hitting the ground."

"What?"

"You see elf," Durin began, "It is not the fall that kills someone falling, but hitting the ground when they do fall. Therefore, we hit something that blocked the ground from hitting us and therefore, survived."

"But isn't the haystack on the ground?" Gilead pointed out.

"Yes, but it is not the ground." Durin further elaborated, "Therefore, we are still alive. Such a pity for Mairon though."

"Someone mention me?" Durin shivered as Gilead picked up from whom the voice had come from. To their right, atop a fallen outpost sat the resident mage of their group.

"How the hell did you survive?" Durin demanded in aghast rage, especially since it was the mage's fault that the three of them had fallen like this in the first place for more than one reason.

"Magic." Mairon answered, "Want some? Well too bad, you're a dwarf."

"I...hate...you." The dwarf breathed as Gilead heard something stir a ways behind him. Standing up, the elf carefully walked along the pavement, eventually stepping into a growing pool of blood draining out of the ogre that they had nearly died to defeat. The damned creature, despite the numerous streams of blood leaking out of it's armor or it's broken leg, was still alive and attempting to stand against it's oppressors.

"How did he survive?" Durin asked before he started chopping into the ogre's neck. Gilead was sure that his arrow through the creature's eye had killed it, but perhaps Durin was making sure since it did twitch it's arm.

"Well, he was heavy." The dwarf gave one final chop that severed the ogre's head from it's body before turning to the elven scout in a mixture of annoyance and forced flattery.

"Does it matter, he's dead now." Mairon stated, marveling at the fountain of dark blood that spewed from the headless stump on the Ogre's neck.

"And we would still be in a defensible location if you had hit him the first time." Durin muttered while cleaning off his axe and trying to get blood out of his beard.

"You know what?" Durin turned to face Mairon, but never got a chance to answer due to the currents of lightning that reacted with the liquid blood covering his metal armor and sent a large charge of electricity through his system, "Here's some stone, get to know it more." The dwarf dropped to the ground, still alive, but very much unable to move.

"We might need him." Gilead brought, though he had little objection to the dwarf noble's "shock" treatment, "Then again, he was getting on my nerves."

"Besides, what about that guy up ahead." Mairon stated, pointing to a clearing ahead where a badass mage with a blood smear on above his nose was fighting a large group of darkspawn, "Ho there!"

* * *

><p><strong>Tower of Ishal<strong>

Back in the tower, the absence of the third ogre allowed for the reminder of the wardens to spread out and divide focus between the pair of ogres still remaining. With Revan down from a combination of exhaustion from traversing the tower, over-exertion from killing the first ogre and now a broken left arm, Lealion stayed back to mainly heal the human noble while occasionally casting a support spell to enflame the weapons of the wardens or stun one of the two ogres.

Fortunately, the other Cousland pulled the claymore out of the other dead ogre's corpse and joined Lily in engaging the dual-wielding ogre while Alistair was rammed into the wall by the other ogre as Gimli stood back waiting for a good shot as he only had a few bolts left.

Alistair was grabbed by his ogre, lifted off the ground and punched by his ogre while Gimli aimed for the creature's neck. If ogre anatomy was the same as other humanoids, then Gimli would be able to do some damage with a precise shot to a vein in the neck area. In the corner of his eye, the dwarf saw Shatele hack into the dual-wielding ogre's left forearm to force the creature to drop one of it's weapons while Lily caused the ogre to howl in pain when she threw a frost flask onto the ground behind the ogre's right foot, encasing the leg in ice.

When the ogre threw Alistair down, Gimli found his shot and fired. The bolt flew into the side of the ogre's neck, causing it to stumble to the side unable to move it's left arm while it's left leg hobbled as if it had a limp. Alistair swiped away the remaining right arm with his blade and jumped onto the ogre's disabled knee before putting his full might into a thrust through the ogre's hip and wrenched it out, practically severing the leg from it's socket except for a tendon of dark flesh that bleed horribly onto the ground. The ogre fell forward onto it's head, allowing Alistair to climb onto the back of the ogre's neck and stabbed into the creature's head.

"Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter." Lily chanted as she felt herself get propelled into the air by the ogre horn that struck her, "Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow. In their blood the Maker's will is written." She flipped to land on her feet and threw her knife into the back of the ogre's head, stunning it and allowing Shatele to hack into the ogre's other arm. Taking the charge, Lily jumped onto the ogre's right side and leapt up with her remaining, striking the small blade into the ogre's massive neck. Using leverage, Tabris flipped herself up onto the ogre's shoulder while deepening the wound and pried the knife out of ogre's neck, spraying blood on her and causing the ogre to grow silent. Shatele thrust her claymore through the dying ogre's stomach, propelling it down onto the ground with Lily rolling off in time to land on her knees.

"We've probably missed the signal! Light the beacon." Alistair shouted to the remaining group as Shatele dropped her sword and helped Revan back onto his feet.

"On it!" Lily ran over to where the signal was to be ignited and raised her eyebrow when she found something, "Who lit it and when?"

"Ealier while all of you were dancing with those ogres." Gimli answered as he pulled a bolt out of the recently slain ogre.

"Well then...now what?" Lily inquired, annoyed that another tunic had been ruined, exposing her midriff and a part of her lower right breast to these damned shemlen. Fortunately, they were too distracted by their own exhaustion to notice and take advantage.

"We stay here and wait." Revan sheathed his sword and sat down, ignoring that his left arm was somewhat disjointed from that blow from earlier.

"Okay...can I leave?" Lealion inquired nervously, "I just have a thing about towers."

"Of course, you've done more than help." Alistair complemented while cleaning blood off of his shield and sword.

"Thanks, good luck." Lealion stated before she started running down the stairs and leaving the wardens to guard to Signal flare from any more groups of darkspawn.

* * *

><p><strong>Field of Ostagar<strong>

"The name's Galian, but everyone calls me Hawke." The badass mage introduced when Mairon and Gilead made it over to where he had finished destroying a large platoon of darkspawn by himself.

"Mairon Amell, but everyone remembers Mairon."

"Amell?" Hawke said, smirking at the mention of Mairon's surname, "My mother's an Amell."

"Interesting." Mairon admitted, remarking on how much more buff and muscular Mairon was than the average mage, and the fact that his staff looked more like a sword-staff than the traditional staves most mages used.

"Like a big family reunion!" Hawke snickered, Mairon regarded this newly discovered cousin neutrally.

"Mage!" A certain dwarf roared from behind Mairon, "The stone curse you for a thousand generations!"

"Oh walk it off." Mairon barked at the dwarf, focused on the usual style that his newly found cousin used.

"What happened to him?"

"Ogre." Amell answered his cousin.

"Really?" Hawke asked perplexed, using his staff to point out the pair of ogres that had been recently ripped apart, "They don't give me much trouble."

"Did you really kill two at once?" Gilead inquired, in disbelief that a mere human could possibly slay two of those monsters singlehandedly.

"Like I said, they don't give me much trouble." Hawke answered as another ogre was thrown into the ground behind him and stabbed through with an oversized sword by a young man who looked identical to Hawke.

"See that brother! I just killed five of them-"

"No one cares Carver!" Hawke yelled, causing the young man to sulk and walk away with lowered shoulders, his deed of slaying five armored ogres doomed to die in obscurity, "Shall we rejoin the battle?"

"What is it elf?" Durin inquired of the elf who eyed the surroundings of Ostagar as if he sensed something.

"The signal is lit." Gilead stated, looking up to the tower that they had fallen out of, "But I see no sign of Loghain's forces."

"Perhaps the darkspawn overran their position." Durin figured, "It is too late to second guess ourselves now."

"Look what I found!" Mairon cried as he displayed to his fellow wardens and cousin the creature he had found next to a dead messenger.

"A pony?" Hawke inquired as he saw the brown maned, black colored pony that were ridiculously rare in Ferelden. Likely had something to do with those damned Orleisans, "I'm stunned that more of us don't have any."

"Good! We can send it to Duncan and-" Gilead was cut off from the horror of seeing Mairon bask the pony in fire, "Why did you set it on fire?"

"Let loose the hooves of war!" Mairon cried as he leapt upon the aflamed pony, though the creature seemed more scared than in agony, "I think I'll call you, Ponydash."

"What about Rapidash?" Hawke amusingly asked.

"Too obvious." Mairon answered while the pony still neighed in fear, "Shall we enter the battle, fellows?"

"When did we ever leave?" Hawke inquired as he drew out his staff and cried, "For Lothering!"

"For Endrin!"

"For the Dales!"

"For Kirkwall!"

"What?" Hawke asked in confusion, "This is Ferelden not the free marches."

"But I don't care about Ferelden." Mairon stated, "Besides, I have family back in Kirkwall anyway."

"Kirkwall has nothing to do with-"

"FOR KIRKWALL!" Mairon stirred his pony into action, causing it to speed across the terrain and leap down into the battle...

* * *

><p>"Hawke? Hawke!" Cassandra cried in outrage and turned to her dwarven captive, "You told me Hawke wasn't at Ostagar!"<p>

"I told you that he wasn't part of the army." Varric clarified, "But he didn't want to leave his brother alone so he disguised himself as a circle mage...given the circumstances, even the help of an apostate like Hawke was welcome for the battle. The other mages probably planned to either recruit him to the circle or turn him in to the templars after the battle was over."

"Hawke...has a nice ring to it." The Orator stated, "Sounds better than just being known as "Warden", at least he gets a name."

"He does get annoyed when people don't use his first name as much though-"

"Enough!" Cassandra shouted, her temper rising to it's limit, "What else happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't say what all happened during the last stages of the battle." The Orator admitted, "A mace to the head...will do that."

"Is that so?" Cassandra asked, doubtful of the Orator's "clouded memory", "Then who was the warrior in Runic armor?"

"I...let's not talk about **them** so early." The Orator cringed as if the wind had grown cold, "Amazed anyone got out of Ostagar with...**them** around."

"Don't think that you are at liberty to spare details on a whim." Cassandra warned the orator, "The world is now embroiled in chaos and your tale concerning The Wardens contains the other half of the key to saving what we can."

"I understand that..." The Orator told the Seeker, "If I told you who those Runic Ones were now, then you're mind wouldn't be able to wrap itself around the concept. So I'm sparing that detail until later! Is that well enough with you?"

"I can tolerate it." Cassandra answered, "Continue your tale."

"Like I said, they got to the top, lit the beacon and the rest is history."

"Then again, a lot of sources are sketchy about whether Ostagar could've been saved if Loghain played to his part. Wouldn't you want to know how the Previous King of Ferelden fared in a battle against all odds-"

"What would be the point?" An impatient Cassandra asked the dwarf, "Cailan was a fool."

"With respect, his strategy was the best he could've come up with." Varric added if only to keep the Orator from jumping out at the Seeker, "If not for Loghain's betrayal, he might've done better."

"Who knows. Maybe we would've lost even with Loghain's men or we might've won. The fact was that the king was betrayed and left to die." The Orator stated, "Can't even imagine what it would've been like to die in his shoes."

"Exactly how did the King die?"

"I can help with that one." Varric answered, "I happen to have known three people with front row seats to Ostagar."

"Aveline...Carver...and..." Seeing Varric's smirk, Cassandra's face became one of annoyance, "Hawke...Then Hawke was there when the king died? He saw Cailan's death?"

"How...how did Cailan...die?" The Orator more sofly asked, as if pleading, "How did Duncan die?"

"Where do we start..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Okay, for the record, it is my intention to give Cailan a noteworthy send-out in the next chapter without deviating too far from the game's original intention. The next chapter is also going to one of the darker one's you'll read in this story since...well you all know what's about to happen. Yeah, we know who's going to live and who's going to die, but that doesn't mean anyone's going to be let off easy. Who knows, the next chapter might even bump this story up to an M-rating, which leaves me free to be a real sadistic monster to these poor wardens.**

**But seeing as that the only clear definition of an M-rating I've been able to confirm is containing raunchy detailed sex, then I'm still unsure about where that fine line between an M-rating and a T-rating lies. Oh well, not like it needs to be M-rated anytime soon...right?  
><strong>

**As for the pony...the Dragon Age novels and writers confirm that there are horses in Ferelden, they're just in small numbers due to the usual association with Orleas and were removed from the game to keep the player from finishing the adventure in less time. Plus, they would've had to develop more areas to acomadate horse riding.**

**And no, this will be one of the few times you see a horse in this story.**

**For the record, Mairon missed his attack for two reasons: 1) To keep the playing field even and 2) He really did roll a one.  
><strong>


	9. In Death, Sacrifice

**Outskirts of Ostagar**

It had been six hundred seconds since the signal in Ishal had been lit, the mighty torch atop of the spire of the tower burned brightly in the night in spite of the rain brought on by the storm that still brewed on this field.

The battle in the field remained neck and neck, the King's army had held up well in spite of the doubts of many. But the darkspawn horde had been more numerous than expected from the start. Even now, reports came in that several groups of darkspawn had infiltrated the line of the King's defenses, even breaking into the tower itself.

The more Loghain Mac Tir, Teryn of Gwaren and hero of his beloved country observed the bigger picture, the more he realized the field was lost regardless of his actions. Even if the army held now, in time they would be overcome by the vast numbers of the horde, especially now that Ostagar's fragile state offered little in terms of siege capability. The fortress was too worn to hold off the horde and had already been infiltrated.

Now it was time to decide what he would do. Would he sound the charge, likely become the center of attention for the horde and die while buying his daughter's husband and the son of his best friend escape with what survivors the boy could muster? Would Cailan even know to retreat? No, he was too much like his father, he would stay and fight until he could save everyone...but even Maric soon realized that sacrifices must be made in time...

Time wasn't something Cailan or Ferelden had.

"Sound...the retreat." A part of Loghain could hardly believe he was saying this. Abandon his king and countrymen to die?

"But...what about the king?" His trusted lieutenant questioned, "Shouldn't we-"

"Do as I command!" Loghain demanded as he found that he had grabbed his lieutenant's arm and frightened her. The strong girl she was, she quickly recovered and pulled her arm out of her guardian's grip. What would Catherien do? Would she defy her commander and protect the king or obey this command and share in his-

"Clear out!" The answer should have been obvious to the Teryn, "All of you! Let's move!" Loghain took a glance back at the multitude of soldiers under his command, they were unsure of themselves, unsure of whether the Maker would strike them down for this action. But they obeyed Loghain's command, so great was their loyalty.

Loghain stopped and glanced back at the fire lit within the Tower, knowing full well of all who were likely within. Eight individuals who held such promise for this country, but would now be slain eventually or worse. All because they followed the plan he had designed, there was no denying to himself that what he was now doing was treason.

But there was no time for self-condemnation, Ferelden needed to prepare for the true storm to come.

* * *

><p><strong>The Beacon grows cold<strong>

Chaos...nothing but sheer chaos for the Royal Army. All battle lines and formations had been scrapped, the darkspawn overwhelmed all who stood their ground while others retreated. No one knew when it happened, but that didn't matter, the darkspawn had broken the line and were now razing back and forth throughout Ostagar. Any archers, catapult operators, or scouts still within the ruins had likely fled if they weren't dead, killed by the numerous darkspawn groups that found a way under the front line. Virtually all accountable mages, both from the circle and apostates either drafted by templars or volunteered at the risk of capture, lied dead upon the Tevinter ground, overwhelmed by darkspawn numbers too great for their gift to protect them.

On the fields before Ostagar, the darkness was even worse. There the King and what remained of his army fought with all their might and all their heart to kill as many darkspawn as they could, buy time for others to escape this now clearly-doomed battle, or a last stab at glory. Whatever the reasons, they fought with ever shrinking numbers.

Beside the King was where Duncan fought, if Cailan fell here then Ferelden would be leaderless in this Blight, furthermore the treachery of his wife's father would likely die here if none lived to tell of it. But apart from a few of the remaining members of the King's guard and few volunteers skilled or lucky enough to survive, Cailan and Duncan were alone in a growing sea of foes.

Even as Duncan fought, he knew that his own death was assured. As he now sensed, every other Grey Warden within the open field of Ostagar had fallen. The Warden Commander personally saw the last three die before his eyes. Tarimel, magically constricted by a powerful Darkspawn Emissary and left unable to defend himself against the ravenous claws that tore out his arms and ripped his entrails out of his body as he screamed.

Richu, one of the more experienced wardens apart from Duncan himself, ran through by the lance of a hurlock alpha. Richu was always a stubborn, he pulled himself along the shaft as his death was already assured and avenged himself before jerking back to catch a shriek on the other end of the spear before he fell forward. The spear hit the ground first, propping the warden up and allowing for the genlocks to rip the flesh from his dying body.

Gregor, he had misgivings about this engagement since before Duncan had left to find more recruits. Always outspoken, he argued porfusely to await the wardens from Orlais before the wardens involved themselves with a country that hardly trusted them. Even as Gregor was brought to his knees by the Silver Runic Knight and swiftly killed by the warrior's stab through his heart, Duncan knew now that the warden from the Anderfels was right.

Duncan should not have brought all of the wardens to the fold, he should have stationed at least half in another defensible position such as Redcliffe, West Hill, Gwaren or Denerem in the event that this battle grew ill. Why did he allow the Ferelden nobility to dictate the terms of engagement with the darkspawn? Duncan knew why, he did not wish to give opponents to the presence of the Warden's more ammunition to hinder their actions. Ironically, by not confronting the Ferelden leadership or taking a more active role in this plan, he had doomed the wardens to-

No, he had no time to second guess himself now, as Warden-Commander, it was his duty to fight this blight no matter the cost. Now it was his duty to ensure the survival of the Royal Family to preserve an ally in this fight against the Blight.

Caught in his own thoughts, the Warden-Commander ignored the sensation that screamed in the back of his mind. When he realized the warning, an ogre alpha armored in a hastily forged platemail had thrown it's arm across Duncan's back and knocked him to the ground before bringing it's large sword down on the King.

Though surprised, the King blocked the blow with his own sword and engaged the great Ogre Alpha in a lethal duel where a single misstep or mistake could spell his death. As the duel went on, Duncan tried to get up, only to realize the all too familiar paralysis that had unnaturally kept him grounded, but he sensed no emissary nearby-

But the Silver Warrior had.

As Cailan swerved around another lethal blow from the ogre and dealt a decisive hit, Duncan saw **him**. The Warrior stood over a fallen mage, his runic blade still red with the many hundreds that he had slain, including those wardens brave enough to stand against him. Now **he** was using his dark and tainted magic to hold Duncan down, preventing him from protecting the king who's survival was so vital to the stability and survival of Ferelden.

There was no doubt now, the darkspawn had chosen to strike Ferelden first.

Frustrated, the ogre slapped the king into the air with his other hand and watched as the king flew up and nastily slammed into the corpse filled ground. The King cried out, his arm had been broken by the ogre's attack. But the creature had no pity, it stormed over to Cailan and crushed it's armored foot onto Cailan's chest, causing the young man to cough out blood that stained his gold armor. Duncan could only watch as the ogre increased the pressure and slowly crushed the young man as his remaining troops grew disheartened by the sight.

For if their king, Maric's son fell, there would be no hope in their eyes.

But Cailan weakly laughed despite his predicament and grabbed his sword as the ogre stabbed his right side to pin the young man down. The ogre punched down to finish the king, halted when Cailan's sword pierced the armor knuckle and sliced into the ogre's arm. Cailan jerked his body with all his might, snapping the blade that held him down and thrusting up into the ogre's chest. Pulling up with a cry, the ogre's blood gushed onto Cailan's blond hair as the king pulled out the sword to halfway up the blade and thrust again for deeper penetration into his would-be slayer.

Duncan signed in relief as the ogre fell on it's back and the wounded but still alive king stood in triumph, inspiring any nearby troops to continue fighting despite the slim hope that still remained. Feeling the spell wear off, Duncan leapt up and charged for the Runic Warrior, singling him out as the most dangerous foe on this field. As Duncan clashed his blade with the Warrior's, he prayed that the Warrior's death would dishearten the darkspawn horde and perhaps buy time for the king to escape. The Warrior betrayed nothing from behind his helm, even as Duncan felt his blade cut across the Warrior's helm, surprisingly leaving a faint scar over the visor where the right eye was.

Yes, Duncan was invigorated, there was still hope for Ferelden...still a chance to save his birth-land before the Blight overwhelmed it-

A Roar sounded in the night. A mighty terrible roar that belonged to a mythical creature. A creature of flight and flame believed to had been extinct until months before the close of the Blessed Age. A creature for which this current era was now named.

A dragon.

The Dragon flew down from the enflamed skies, a feral rage entrapped in it's red eyes. Duncan sensed it as it flew upon a reformed line of the King's guard, as it breathed a black and red flame that melted the armor and cooked the flesh of those brave soldiers. This was no idle dragon that had flown down to the fields of Ostagar. It was tainted...no, it was far worse. This winged creature had held the taint since the day of it's birth...it hadn't been forcefully conscripted into the ranks of the darkspawn.

It was a darkspawn.

Paralyzed by this sudden development, Duncan had left himself open to a vicious stab through his chest and felt the mana build up as the Runic Warrior surged a massively powerful arcane bolt into Duncan's body. The Warden Commander was propelled into the path of the assaulting dragon and caught in it's claws. The Dragon landed and raked it's claw over the Rivaini-born warden and flapped wings as it spurred back into full motion.

Though not the full size of a High Dragon, the creature was far larger than it's juvenile opposite and thus no force in Ferelden's arsenal could prevent the dragon from catching the king in it's jaws and leaping into the air before Duncan's eyes. Then there was simply silence, Duncan's eyes remained fixed on where the king had previously stood attempting to dislodge his sword from the ogre he'd just slain. The Runic Warrior stood in place, just watching Duncan turn himself over and bleed out from his injuries. Duncan knew why the Warrior was simply standing there, He wanted the Warden-Commander to fall to despair before his death.

Even as the dragon flew back down and threw it's prey onto the dirt, Duncan could feel that despair break down his composure. A soldier jumped on the dragon, a last vain but brave attempt to protect her king, and stabbed it's leg. The dragon honored the woman's courage and snapped it's jaws over the woman's upper body and threw her into the air before snapping on her again. Blood ran down the creature's jaw as it stalked over the shivering Cailan and continued to chew on the screaming girl. Her screams grew still as the dragon savagely crunched on the soldier and stabbed it's claw into Cailan's torso, it's talons pierced the king's body and allowed it to lift up the king with plenty of leverage.

Duncan could only watch, as did any soldiers still alive, as the King of Free Ferelden was lifted up to the dragon's blood stained mouth, the dragon's face bore a grimace frighteningly similar to a grin as it pushed out it's tongue, revealing the fear-etched face of the soldier the dragon had just devoured, her head severed from the rest of her mangled body. The King's eyes lost all courage in that hour and only fear could be seen within them. The Dragon roared a terrible roar that many hoped never to hear after the Steel Age, a roar that signaled doom to any that stood opposite the monster.

In the corner of his eye, Duncan saw the Runic Warrior nod his head towards the dragon, it did not took much thought to understand what the Warrior intended. The dragon growled bit down on the king, prying Cailan off of it's claw and tossing the young man into the air. In less than a second, the dragon snapped it's jaws over the King of Ferelden and bit down with enough force that anyone observing would think that the young man was being drained of every once of blood in his body. A weak cry came from Cailan as the dragon jerked it's head left and right and slammed the king into the ground before it lifted the king up again.

Then Cailan Therin, son of Maric fell still in the beast's mouth.

The dragon tossed the king out of it's mouth with reluctant vigor. The golden armored king flew over the scattered ranks until his body unceremoniously slammed into a gravel hill and rolled down onto the war-torn ground, a trail of blood left in the king's fall. No body ceased their struggle, no one stopped fighting their enemy, but they knew what had happened.

Their king had fallen and Ferelden, along with him.

Duncan saw the dimly open eyes of Maric's son, the blood that covered and oozed out of the young, the mangled form of his body and slowly rose, turning to face the dragon that released a stream of fire in triumph. Duncan knew now that he would die on this field, he knew that the King was dead and no force in this world would revive him, he did not know if any now had hope to survive, if he was the last warden in Ostagar, or if Ferelden could be saved from this blight. None of that mattered to Duncan now.

The Warden-Commander was on his feet, ready to slaughter the target in his sight.

Drawing on strength he did not know he had, the once-thief of Val Royeaux and murderer of the Grey Warden Guy, drew out his blades and charged at the dragon. The dragon wasn't focused on him, it was too entralled by slaughtering the grief stricken soldiers who threw themselves at the creature in an attempt to avenge their lord. The dragon made short work of the fools and too late it sensed what had leaped onto it's back.

Knowing full well what it's attacker intended, the dragon flapped it's wings and prepared to go into flight. It managed to hover off the ground before a savage stab disturbed it's control of it's wings and caused it to fall on it's unprepared legs. Then it felt a body leap onto his neck and climb up along the blades that it stabbed into the dragon's scaled flesh. Realizing it's peril, the dragon wildly twisted and turned it's neck, attempting to dislodge this warden from his desire. The attempt succeeded and the dragon felt a chill of relief from the lack of the warden climbing up to it's neck.

That relief was short-lived when a pair of metal points stabbed into the dragon's vision and blinded it to it's surroundings. It felt immeasurable pain from feeling it's head being pried open by the warden that had landed on it's skull. It felt both weaker and less aware with each stab that the warden made onto it's exposed insides. It felt it's own blood run down it's skull, the dragon felt it's own life fade as the warden ravaged the dragon's skull, then it was completely gone, slain before it's body slumped onto the ground.

Nothing now mattered to Duncan, the dragon was dead, it's broken skull crowned with the blades that the Warden-Commander had embedded into it. That deed, though a worthy one, did nothing to ease Duncan's mind. It did nothing to erase his failure to his order, his failure to his country, his failure the son of a man who's actions allowed for this chance.

A chance that would come to nothing.

Duncan stumbled over to where the king lied, ignoring the screams of defeat and the howls of savage ectasy. He knew that the Runic Warrior was watching him but he did not care. The Warrior could have his despair, Duncan had no need to hold on to it, to fight it. Succumbing to his wounds, the Warden-Commander knelt down beside the king's body, he did not know why he had come here. Perhaps in this hour, Duncan was gravitated to Cailan's body, a stilled beacon that signaled the doom of the valiant Ferelden's people. Perhaps this chewed on body was the best symbol of the Ferelden Warden's failure to prepare for this blight and in turn, Duncan's own failure.

His hands holding onto the young man's broken armor, armor once worn by Cailan's own father, he was propelled to look all around him and take in the gravity of his failure and his situation.

He hardly heard anything now, the damage to his skull from both the ogre Cailan slew and the dragon's claw had damaged his hearing, the screams and cries of this massacre were now only echos in his mind. To his left, he saw a pair of brothers, one with a bladed-staff and the other with a greatsword, fighting back to back to try and escape this battle. Would they? Duncan didn't know. Behind the brothers, he saw a hurlock run his blade down through the spine of a boy who seeemed too young for this field of battle. To his right, a young woman had been stripped of her armor and tormented by a group of hurlocks. Too far away to do anything if he could, the Warden-Commander watched as the darkspawn pierced the poor girl in ways that would horrify Duncan if he hadn't already lost all hope in this hour.

Too sickened to watch the hurlocks thrust into the crying and bleeding girl, he turned instead to an older man who tried to fight off a pair of hurlock alphas and kept fighting in spite of his increasingly failing health. The man fought with courage worthy of a Grey Warden, if only Duncan had been more willing to take greater risks with his recruitment methods, if only he had recruited that child before this Blight began...there would have been more time...

Tired of their game, a hurlock grabbed the soldier and ran his blade through his chest before another did likewise and literally ripped the poor man in half. The soldier's friend tried to help, but was stabbed through the back by another hurlock and died before he fell to the ground. The Runic Warrior slowly walked over to the dying Warden-Commander and Duncan sensed that he was pleased with this scene before the two of them. Pleased enough to feel that victory was won, and lifted it's helm from it's head.

What Duncan saw, shocked him even in this hour.

This was it, there was no hope to fight this Blight. When Ferelden falls, no one in the adjacent nations will know until it is too late. The darkspawn will use both surprise and the chaos that would inevitably embroil the nation to create a festering point. The darkspawn were savage but not mindless, they choose Ferelden as a staging point for the invasion to come from this Blight, they had learned from the past five previous blights...what had the Wardens done? Held an ever faltering line and begged nations for their support...what could be done against such a force.

As his vision dimmed, he noticed that in all this time, a faint light had remained...illuminating the field just barely. In this dark hour, he lifted his head to that light, perhaps it was the Maker come to take him beyond the Fade...

No, it was the Tower...the Tower of Ishal.

Then the Warden-Commander remembered those six individuals who he had recruited, joined with another of great character whose loyalty Duncan never had to question. They were all within the Tower of Ishal, they had succeeded in their duty and lit the beacon. The fire still burned brightly through the darkened skies, a hope that still kindled in spite of the storm that was at hand. They hadn't worried about whether there was hope...those six recruits...no, the six wardens pressed on and created their own hope.

Despite only being wardens for a few hours, they had taken to heart what Duncan himself had forgotten in his great despair. A despair that broke and lessened as Duncan turned back to the Runic Warrior, who the Warden-Commander sensed was displeased with Duncan's rising sense of determination and peace. This brought further closure to the grey warden's mind, to know that even in his dying state, there was still a way to defy this mighty coward before him. There was peace in Duncan's mind, a sense that perhaps hope remained within the seven within the tower, that he had not failed.

As the Runic Warrior's blade slashed down into Duncan's sight, he knew the wardens of Ferelden were not lost...

* * *

><p>Lily heard the shouts, the cries of the darkspawn pouring up the stairs and knew that she should have reacted quickly. She knew that she should've gotten out of the tower when the signal was lit, but she stayed...she watched the battle outside through the large hole in the Tevinter architexture. But it wasn't the shouts or the screams that alerted her to the darkspawn climbing up the tower.<p>

It was the blade that stabbed out her chest.

As the organic point was pulled out of her body, she faintly heard the sound of a shriek. A damned Sharlock snuck up on the group and had claimed it's first victim. As she fell forward, she prayed that the end would come quickly...

That Soris...her father...Shianni...she prayed they would forgive her for not coming home.

* * *

><p>As soon as Gimli saw Tabris lifted from the air by the shriek that had attacked her, he reached out of his back for Kalah. That was when he felt multiple points strike into his neck, legs and back. In his panic sprung from the sudden assault, Brosca had forgotten one of the main rules of survival.<p>

Never turn your back to an exit.

As soon as you do, someone can pop out of that exit and attack you, much like the darkspawn archers were doing to him now. He could still feel their arrows penetrating his body, so much so that they were propelling his legs forward into a forced march, allowing him to hear the remnant of the group become overwhelmed by the darkspawn reinforcements.

The damned surfacers sure as hell had better be grateful to him for his sacrifice and win this battle or there would be hell to pay when Gimli next saw them.

* * *

><p>Durin sweeped his axe through the spine of a hurlock alpha and watched the creature crumble off the edge of the wall. The battle up on the walls was becoming more desperate as the battle waged, doubtless most of the players in this plan had either been slain or fled in panic.<p>

Now he saw why his father hated well-sounding logical plans. Perhaps Loghain was in the right for leaving a pointless situation, but the fact remained that now everyone else would suffer for the King's inability to adapt to this situation.

Aeducin knew he would be far from exempt as a large hand grabbed the dwarf and pulled him down, an ogre had scaled the wall without his notice. As the ogre threw out his arm and tossed Gimli threw the air into the valley below, Aeducan found himself admiring the tenacious adaptability of the darkspawn.

If he survived this fall, he would have to look further in depth into their two key tactics...

* * *

><p>Gilead was fighting a losing battle, his bow string broken and the hilts of his knives damaged, the dalish adapted and attached the blades to the ends of his clan bow, swinging the bow at any darkspawn as though it were a double-ended weapon.<p>

But as soon as he had descried Loghain's retreat, Mahariel knew that victory was now impossible without adequate reinforcements. The line had been broken, devoured, spat out and ravaged by the darkspawn horde. He still heard the Archdemon call in his mind, demanding that these humans pay for their defiance and the Grey Wardens along with them.

Just as Gilead had slain the hurlock alpha attempting to drag him down, he felt an arrow pierce his side, a smiling genlock laughed as Mahariel to his knee and attempted to pull the object out. Before his hand had even grasped the arrow however, he felt a flesh covered metal point pierce his body, his eyes widened and his vision grew white, the shriek of his slayer was the last thing that he heard...

* * *

><p>Mairon rubbed his head and turned around in confusion as to why his pony had thrown him from his saddle. And there it was, an arrow through his beloved pony's neck. Too annoyed to pay attention to the battle waging around him, Mairon approached the still fresh corpse of his mount and examined the arrow. It was a well-made arrow, too well-made to had been fired by the darkspawn. But who would have the free time to-<p>

Treachery!

Mairon stood up and found himself surrounded by several darkspawn. Genlocks and Hurlocks, but the mage sensed that there were some Sharlocks hidden in their ranks. Some of these creatures were adorned in the blood of the recently slain muggles, some even held severed bleeding heads in their hands as trophies of their triumph.

Amell saw this assortment gathered against him and he laughed before firing into the charging mass of darkspawn...

* * *

><p>Revan was just barely keeping himself on his feet. He didn't have a choice, Shatele and Rabbit were up the stairs with the others. He cursed himself for going down alone in the event that something like this happened. The darkspawn had sent reinforcements and were now attempting to take back the tower and possibly put out the signal.<p>

Cousland slashed with his sword, relieving a hurlock of it's head before another arrow flew into his chest. He'd been struck more times than he could count, but he refused to fall, he swore to his father that he would protect her...protect Ferelden. There was no room to quit, with that thought burning through his mind, he charged towards the hurlock archer and ran his already damaged dagger through the creature's chest, not caring when the blade snapped inside the tainted flesh.

That was when **he** came...the wall of darkspawn around Cousland parted when **he** came. A newcomer arrayed in Grey Runic Armor with golden runic details across the massive armor set. The newcomer was armed with two swords but had one of them sheathed, Cousland felt the eyes of the newcomer bore into his very soul. It wasn't like the cruel, soulless stares of the darkspawn around them...it was the dim glow from one who had seen what lies within a great abyss, as though this being had seen the Black City itself and was warped by what he saw.

Either way, it changed nothing for Revan...he would not pass, not while he still drew breath...

* * *

><p><strong><em>In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice.<em>**

* * *

><p><strong>Korcari Wilds<strong>

"Ah...your eyes finally open. Mother should be pleased." Gilead heard a woman say as he opened his eyes and found that he was no longer in Ostagar.

"What?" Gilead's vision slowly cleared as he realized where he was. He was in a cabin, the faint glow of a newly re-energized fire brought further color to his sight, restoring him to the world that he had not been taken from.

"You were injured and then Mother rescued you, do you not remember?" Gilead recognized the woman next to the bed he lied in, it was Morrigan, the supposed witch-of-the-wilds that he and the others had met before the battle.

"I remember...falling in battle..." Still too near, Gilead cringed to recall the memories from the battle he had apparently survived by Mythal's grace. But he had to know of what all became of that battle, "Wait...what...what happened to the army? To the King?"

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The darkspawn won your battle." Morrigan explained, "All those he abandoned were slaughtered to the last man. Your friend...he is not taking it well."

"He is right not to be." Gilead stated, remembering how fondly Alistair had spoken of Duncan and the other wardens, "So he is alive as well? How did we all come to be here?"

"Twas my mother, she plucked you and your companions from the field." The witch replied, "Though it was a close call and all of your injuries were severe. Nothing mother couldn't handle of course."

"Your mother? Plucked us from the tower?"

"Yes." Morrigan answered as though this were a small matter, "My mother turned into a great bird and gathered you all within her talons."

"All seven of us?" When Morrigan nodded, Gilead's eyebrow raised as he slowly lifted himself out of the bed and looked to see several other beds hastily placed throughout the room. Seven beds in all with four still occupied by his fellow bandaged and sleeping wardens. Out of the four, Durin and Revan seemed to be the more heavily bandaged though the wounds of Tabris and Brosca were hardly safe to ignore and Rabbit rested on a small mat alongside his master though based on how clean the creature's fur was, it was safe to assume that the mabari had awoken before Gilead had, "Where is Alistair?"

"You mean the suspicious, dim-witted one was with you before?" Gilead rolled his eyes, he had no tolerance or patience for this woman's apathy at the moment, "He is outside by the fire with the girl,Mother asked to see you when you awoke."

"Why does she wish to see me?" Though grateful, Gilead fully realized that he was within the home of the Witch of the Wilds. Though it did not seem that this was the one his Keeper often warned of, Gilead remained focused, vigilant against treachery.

"I do not know, mother rarely tells me her plans." Morrigan answered, she nudged her head towards Mahariel's bedpost. The elf followed the gesture and saw a folded set of clothing waiting for him, "Your original clothes were in such a state that mother felt it necessary to offer some of ours."

"My bow?"

"I am sorry, but it was damaged beyond repair by the time mother came around it it." Morrigan told Gilead, "You had a small piece clutched in her hand, but the rest of it might have been crushed during the battle, is this true?"

"Perhaps..." Gilead admitted as he changed into the garments underneath the bedsheets, they were not what Dalish crafted clothes but in this hour, they would do for now. He barely tolerated how scratchy they were, these clothes were hastily created, but again, he had no room to be picky, "I thank you for helping us, Morrigan."

"I..." Morrigan seemed completely surprised by Gilead's words, though he had done nothing more than express gratitude, "You are welcome, though Mother did most of the work, I am no healer."

"Yet you watched over us while we rested." "Are we safe here? Where are the darkspawn?"

"We are safe, for the moment. Mother's magic keeps the darkspawn away." "Once you leave, tis uncertain what will happen. The horde has moved on, so you might avoid it."

"Were there others?" Gilead knew the answer would not be pleasant, but it was better to know now than let the question fester, "Other survivors?"

"Only stragglers that are long gone." Morrigan answered with a grimace, "You would not want to see what is happening in that valley now."

"I suppose you are right..." Gilead had heard dark stories of what the darkspawn did to the people and cities they were victorious over. As for what happened to Ostagar in the aftermath of this defeat, it was best not to ask for too many details.

* * *

><p><strong>Hut in the Wilds<strong>

Out on the muddy ground sat a young woman who stared silently out into the horizon, worried to death over her brother. Their hound couldn't take any more waiting and slowly walked back inside to be with the still sleeping young man.

Beside her stood a man who bore a shield emblazed with the banner of the Grey Wardens. An order now reduced down to himself and the few now resting from their injuries inside. The ex-templar felt a multitude of emotions in that hour, fear, doubt, and most of all, grief. The others had all died, but by some strange miracle, he was still alive in the middle of the Wilds.

"See? Here is your fellow grey warden." Hearing the voice of the old woman, Duncan turned to see Mahariel emerge from within the old woman's hut, "You worry too much, young man."

"You..." It was unreal to Alistair, seeing Gilead alive though garbed in dirty clothing that was obviously left over from one of Morrigan's mother's previous occupants, "I...I was afraid...you were dead..."

"Thanks to Morrigan's mother, no I am not." Gilead assured Alistair, there was a faint smile on the Dalish elf's face. It was small, but Alistair was relieved to not be alone...if no one had emerged soon, then Alistair would have lost his mind.

"This doesn't seem real. If it weren't for Morrigan's mother...we'd be dead on top of that tower."

"Let us not dwell on what-if, my friend." Gilead told Alistair, in the corner of his eye, the ex-templar saw that Shatele had stood up with a brief smile that faded when she realized her brother hadn't recovered yet. It was understandable, given what she had been through just before all of...this happened...

"The others...are they-"

"Recovering inside. Though I have a feeling that Durin will awaken soon." Gilead answered, "Shame about Mairon."

"Someone mention me?" Alistair, Gilead and Shatele all brought their gaze to the top of the hut where a certain mage sat upon the roof before he jumped down and somehow slowed his descent.

"You...You've been awake this whole time?" Alistair faintly demanded as the mage landed on his feet.

"Yes." Mairon answered, "Sorry about not sharing the news of my survival, but I wanted to hear what you'd say about me under the assumption that I'd died horribly at Ostagar."

"You were saved by Morrigan's mother as well?" Gilead asked though torn between relief and disappointment.

"No, I summoned a pair of turtle doves, strapped them to my arms and flew away- What the hell do you think?"

"I'm...I'm glad...you all survived..." Alistair breathed off the top of his head, "Duncan...the king...they're all...everyone's gone..."

"Not everyone..." Shatele spoke, though she utterly failed to hide to worry she held for her brother, "We're...we're still alive Ser Alistair."

"Yes, you are all alive." Morrigan stated from within the door frame, "If only you weren't taking up all the space in my room."

"Do you have any consideration for what we've been through?" Gilead shouted, though still entombed by his experience, Alistair fully agreed with Mahariel's sentiment.

"If I didn't, then none of you would have survived your wounds." Morrigan retorted before stepping aside for another to emerge, "And here, the first of the dwarves awaken."

"My head..." Durin Aeducan mumbled before he joined the others, "The one place I never thought I would find myself...armorless in the middle of a swamp..."

"Durin..." Alistair was too certain that Durin wouldn't survive, "What about...the others?"

"Others?" Durin inquired, confused that other wardens would have survived the battle, "We are not the only survivors?"

"Did you not see the seven other beds?" Gilead asked calmly, "Or did that require a box?"

"You tread on a fine line Mahariel..." Durin warned, but Alistair was too relieved to see that three others were now awake to care about the bickering that soon ensued, "So how did you fall?"

"Last I remember...I was shot in the side..." Gilead shot a deathly glare at Mairon when he started laughing, even when the other wardens gave the mage a similar look he continued to laugh.

Until Shatele joined in, then he stopped.

"What of you?"

"I was grabbed and thrown into the chasm of Ostagar...I don't remember specifically what happened next...but I suppose I lost consciousness when I impacted the ground." Durin answered Gilead while Alistair listened on, "My armor must've absorbed most of the impact or else I would not have survived. Still...it perplexes me that I survived at all in spite of the great distance that I fell. What of you sorcerer?"

"I wasn't injured." Mairon answered to everyone's shock, "Just kidding, all I remember is seeing a red blur fly over me and there was fire and people burning everywhere! Then I awoke and here we are."

"Think that's the story with all of us." Another voice stated as Alistair's relief grew all the higher, Gimli slowly walked out of the hut, cradling Kalah in his arms.

"Fate has a sense of humor, Madam witch."

"You question the survival of this one?" Morrigan's mother asked an annoyed Aeducan.

"Nay...that I would feel relieved that he survived at all..."

"Yeah, thanks Aeducan." Gimli snorted to Durin, "That was a nice stunt you all pulled, pushing your ogre out the tower. How did you survive?"

"Well you see-"

"We simply did, accept it." Gilead answered for Durin, "I am happy that Kalah survived as well." Alistair noticed that Gilead lacked his bow, it didn't take much to realize what had happened to it.

"Honestly, if I hadn't put her on my back when I did..." Gimli ran his hand over Kalah's shaft where the metal was harshly dented, "I'm just sorry she had to take such a nasty hit."

"But Kalah is just a crossbow...can't you just put it back together if it's broken?"

"Don't fret about it child." Morrigan's mother told Shatele, who was starting to feel a little better, "Some hold great attachment to works of their own hands."

"Then Wade's not gonna be happy about his knives..." Another stated as she walked out, and now Lily Tabris had joined the group, "Anyone else feel pathetically sore?"

"That would be the least of what we all feel..." Gilead stated, Alistair knew exactly what the Dalish elf spoke of. He looked from face to face, in some form or another, no one had been unaffected by Ostagar. Even Mairon, for his face of cold indifference, seemed thoughtful at best.

"It's...good to see you Lily..." Alistair said to Tabris, who simply raised an eyebrow before faintly smirking in appreciation.

"Don't mind him, he's just moaning that Duncan, Cailan, the entire army, the Grey Wardens and everyone else was horribly killed." Morrigan's mother crossed her arms in amusement as the other wardens and Shatele deathly glared at the mage once more, "What? I was only answering a question."

"Was...my brother alright?"

"I'm not going to lie, Shatele...he was in bad shape when last I peaked..." Lily told the very worried Shatele and stole a glance towards the old woman who was unable to contain her laughter for some reason, "Not remotely what I meant!"

"Don't mind me child," Morrigan's mother assured a tomato-faced Lily though what they were talking about passed completely over Alistair's head at that moment, "But what the lady says is true, young Cousland. Of the six of you, his survival was the greatest in doubt...that he even lives speaks greatly of his determination...as it does for all of you."

"Should I be surprised? Why did he go down by himself?" Lily grumbled before sitting down on the ground, "In fact, wasn't going into that tower his idea?"

"And suffice to say, our survival was influenced by the idea." Another voice answered Lily as Shatele's face lit up from the last newcomer alongside his hound, "I'm surprised with your objections that you simply didn't drag me back up yourself, Lady Tabris."

"Brother!" Shatele jumped onto Revan, forcing him to pull his beloved sister into a hug...though he was having trouble keeping his balance.

"Sorry I worried you..." Revan whispered in his sister's ear, bringing a smile to Alistair before the two parted and Revan joined the circle of survivors, "So the gang's all here."

"Apart from the King and other wardens-" When everyone's glare fell on him, Mairon rolled his eyes and walked to a corner of the house and sat down with his arms crossed over his chest, "Fine, I'll shut up."

"How do you feel?" Alistair asked, knowing from his templar training as to when to spot a soldier trying to pass themselves off as healed when they truly weren't. Alistair didn't need to look to hard, Revan was barely putting up an attempt to hide whatever wounds still afflicted him.

"Let's...not talk about that..." Revan answered though Alistair didn't blame him, the ex-templar tried very hard to surpress memories of how he had received his injuries...he would never look at a genlock the same again, "How did we survive?"

"Morrigan's mother..." Gilead answered, "If it weren't for her...none of us would have made it."

"Do not talk of me as if I am not present lad."

"He...We didn't mean..." In all this talk, Alistair had forgotten the basic rules of courtesy, especially with one's elders, "But what do we call you? You never gave us your name."

"Names are pretty, but useless." The old woman stated to Alistair, "The Chasind folk call me Flemeth, I suppose it will do."

* * *

><p>"And here in your tale is where history branches into legend and myth." Cassandra said to herself as she stalked in front of the Orator, "It was the Flemeth, the very same witch of the wilds from legend, who rescued them?"<p>

"Do I have to repeat myself?" The Orator inquired politely though he was still very annoyed.

"Told you, I wasn't lying about the Witch of the Wilds." Varric said to the skeptical Seeker, "But don't ask why she did it, cause I've got no inkling about her plan."

"Come to think of...none of us did..." The Orator admitted while Cassandra slowed her pacing and stalked up to the Orator's seat.

"What happened next? Did the Wardens conquer Flemeth there? Did she give them aid in return for setting motion some scheme-"

"Ignore her," Varric told the Orator despite Cassandra's scowl, "Take your time friend, we're not going anywhere anytime soon."

"That better not be-"

"Relax Seeker, I'm only telling the truth because I didn't get so much as a lunch break until after I told my story. So I'm giving out a warning ahead of time."

"You tread on a fine line dwarf." Cassandra breathed to Varric before stepping back from the Orator.

"Glad I'm not the only one..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Don't ask how Flemeth carried nine people to her hut. She just did or you could say sea turtles helped her, which ever makes you happy.**

**Also, I honestly have no idea, but did the story any closer to the T/M rating border? Just wondering that's all.**

**Furthermore, thank you all for over 1700 hits! The Ostagar arc was probably a read that was hard to follow and this is my first Dragon Age fanfic/second fanfic based on a videogame (The first is thrones of the Four Pillars if you don't count my oneshot: King Mickey on Crack), so thank you for your reviews and for watching this story grow into what it is now.  
><strong>


	10. Forth from the Wilds

**Hut of Witch of the Wilds, Flemeth**

"Say that again?" Mairon was now next to the old woman who had called herself Flemeth while most except Rabbit and the dwarves remained stunned at this revelation. They had all heard the tales, in one fashion or another, stories that spoke of the Dreaded Witch who caused the fall of Conobar.

But to have her standing here...they had no idea what to make of it.

"Asha'bellanar!" Gilead immediately bowed to the older woman as if to confer respect though he still shook with fear, "Abelas...Andaran atish'an..."

"Get up young Seeker...the people need not bend their knee so quickly."

"The Flemeth of Legend? Daveth was right...you're the Witch of the Wilds, aren't you?"

"And what does that mean?" Flemeth asked the skeptical Alistair, "I know a bit of magic and it has served you all well, has it not?"

"The elder speaks truly." Durin spoke, "I know nothing of this Flemeth, but we owe this woman our lives. To throw aside gratitude in the name of facing off with a superstitious name will only worsen our precarious situation."

"Regardless of you are..." Lily added carefully, "I suppose we should thank you."

"If you know what's good for you I suppose you should!" Flemeth agreed with a smirk and nodded to Shatele, "Like the young miss did when she awoke."

"She did save us brother..." The young woman apologetically told her brother when he looked at her to confirm the truth. Revan merely nodded and walked in front of Flemeth before falling down to a knee and bowing his head,

"Then...I thank you on behalf of the Cousland name..." Revan stated, "I how could I repay you for saving our lives?"

"All I wish for you do is what you are meant to do." Flemeth assured the young noble and bid him to stand back on his feet, "It has always been the Grey Warden's duty to unite the lands against the Blight, or did that change when I wasn't looking?"

"Of course not!" A bitter Lily cried out, "It's just that most of us are dead and the people we're trying to protect have a tendency to backstab us at the worst possible time!"

"What are you talking about?" Cousland accusingly demanded, "The King did everything in his power to protect Ferelden! Don't you dare lay the blame on him!"

"I'm not talking about that..." Lily answered the noble, exhaling before she continued, "What I mean is that the Teryn didn't charge Cousland! He turned tail and ran!"

"You're lying!" Revan accused Tabris with a violent tone, "The Teryn would never abandon the King..."

"It's true brother..." Shatele affirmed to her brother, "We were on the top floor...he never came..."

"We saw the bastards turn tail and run..." Gimli also added before running over to catch Cousland when he shook and fell forward, "Hey! Take it easy!"

"Ferelden...we...failed..." The noble barely muttered as he started coughing up spits of blood, "When I...when I find him...he'll hang...right next to Howe!"

"Oh lovely...another one of us overreacts to bad news." Durin said to himself, not noticing when Lily appeared at his side and slapped the dwarf with armor piercing strength, "Oh come now! Did I really deserve that one?"

"Hah! You got slapped by a woman!" Mairon laughed before a wizened hand whipped across his face and threw him into a daze, "Pain...indescribable...pain..."

"Pain is what comes upon those who mock the pain of others." Flemeth coldly chided the mage before addressing Cousland, "Young man, what your companions speak is the truth."

"From the sound of it, your king was a pitiful one to start with." Morrigan mused from inside the hut, "While most of you stood back and watched."

"But we were fighting the darkspawn!" Alistair yelled in the direction of the hut before turning to Flemeth, "The King had nearly defeated them! Why would Loghain do this?" While it was unclear as to why the battle turned against them, the wardens mostly agreed silently that this action by Loghain had caused the king's death.

"Now that is a good question." Flemeth said while crossing her arms curiously, "Men's hearts hold shadows greater than any tainted creature. Perhaps he feels this is an army which he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."

"The Archdemon..." Even though none of them saw the demon, they had sensed it like a bad rash. They felt it's will in the darkspawn they faced, the very air of that battle was saturated with it's presence. Perhaps it was merely an aftereffect from their Joining, but it was clear to the Wardens that the Archdemon was present in that battle...how he was present was a different story altogether.

"Perhaps it was for the obvious...He saw little point in fighting a lost battle."

"Were we even in the same fight Aeducan?"

"His action was not one I would be unable to see you attempt." Durin growled at the Castless Warden, "The only reason you failed was because you had no where to run to Brosca."

"Is this the part where I make a counter and we break into a short fight?" Gimli sarcastically inquired, even if he wasn't a straight-up fighter, he was enough of a scrapper to make it through a Proving, "Cause I've got one line for you-"

"Well you two be silent?" Gilead knew nothing of the quarrels of dwarves, but he had little patience for them at the moment, "Or has everything that happened up till know flown out of your stunted heads?"

"Watch it elf!" Durin barked at the Dalish, "I will not be spoken down to by some...poor wanderer who spends his time frolocking in the woods!"

"How dare you!" Gilead snarled, offended by Durin's comment, "We Dalish are far from poor! At least we do not cast our own aside for circumstances they cannot control!"

"Then why are here with us misfits of Grey Wardens?" Gimli demanded as a three way fight seemed ready to break out.

"That...is...enough..." Revan stepped in the middle of the three and gave them enough of a mental que to halt the impending fight, "If we should be taking out anyone...it should be the Archdemon."

"By ourselves?" Alistair asked unbelievably, "No Grey Warden has ever defeated a blight without the army of half-a dozen nations at his back...not to mention...I don't know how."

"How to kill the archdemon? Or how to raise an army?" Flemeth inquired, "Seems to me that those are two different questions."

"That's because they are." Gimli pointed out.

"Arl Eamon would never stand for this!" Alistair yelled out as he walked to the edge of the dirt and looked out into the marsh, "If he knew what had happened, he'd gather the whole bannorn against Loghain!"

"The Arl of Redcliffe?" Lily had heard about this arl of Redcliffe from the shopkeeper in the Alienage, he was one of the older lords in Southern Ferelden close to the south tip of Lake Calenhad but Lily didn't know anything more.

"I suppose..." Alistair replied, "Arl Eamon wasn't at Ostagar, he still has all of his men and he was Cailan's uncle. He's well respected within the bannorn and he is a good man that we can trust, I know him. Of course! We can go to Redcliffe and appeal to him for help!"

"So was Howe." Revan warned, "So was Loghain and look what they've done. We can't just go to Eamon out of desperation..."

"Here's an idea...why not wait for everyone to see what the blight is doing?"

"Yes, perhaps wait until the Archdemon itself makes its appearance at the gates of Denerem!" Flemeth laughed as Lily realized how bad of an idea that would be. "That would be convincing."

"It's been centuries since the last blight...no one will take it seriously until it's too late."

"Then we need the other Grey Wardens." Revan suggested, "Weren't the ones from Orlais supposed to be here soon?"

"I don't...know..." Alistair admitted, "Maybe they are...but I wouldn't know how to contact them or any other warden branches..."

"Brother...maybe Alistair's right about Arl Eamon." Shatele slowly said to her brother as if unsure herself... "Father trusted Eamon...and...There's only the seven of you, how can you fight the Blight on your own?"

"I thought you weren't too privy about the Orleisans anyway, Cousland..."

"I'm not." Revan clarified sternly though his posture had calmed down, "It's just that the Blight is the larger threat...I still can't believe Loghain doesn't see otherwise..."

"Redcliffe's our only option then..." Durin stated while the other wardens agreed, "But it can't be the only one, we can't find ourselves in a situation where we have enemies on all sides."

"Too late for that." Mairon chuckled despaired the glares that his companions gave him, "This time I really am speaking the truth."

"Besides, this Arl Eamon is just another human lord." Lily said, unconvinced that the situation had truly improved, "We'll need more than connections to deal with Loghain, not to mention the Blight that's about to knock down some doors."

"If I know anything about these situations, it's that the bigger guy is always the one people listen to." Gimli added, remembering his own experience with the Carta, "Loghain's a hero on the surface right? That means that even with this Arl Eamon, we'll still have to play politics to get Ferelden on our side and that's too chaotic to manipulate for sure. At least not with the numbers we have."

"In short, we'll need to find a way to burst down the gates and tell everyone to shut up and listen to us." Mairon stated with a finger on his chin, "There's only two ways that I know of."

"Please, enlighten us."

"I shall Mahariel." The Mage continued, "Gather a large group of competent mages and force the bannorn to follow us. Or gather an army of misfit groups to show that we have some sort of backing and support. But the latter is too boring..."

"Then again..." Revan sat against the lying Rabbit for a brief moment as if he had remembered something, "Shatele, do you still have that cask that I gave you?"

"The one you got from the Wilds for Duncan?" Shatele reached into her tunic and briefly searched with her hand until she found something, "Yes I do." She then brought out a small folder-like cask that she handed to Revan.

"Here's our army." Revan remarked with a subtle smile as he opened the cask to inspect it's contents while the others watched on.

"But this cask only has papers, journals and scrolls inside it." As Shatele spoke, the wardens suddenly remembered the importance of the cask, "That's not an army."

"Yet, it's our best method of gathering one." Revan clarified to his sister while the wheels in everyone's mind started moving.

"Wait..." It finally hit Lily, "You're talking about those treaties Flemeth gave us!"

"Ah...now there is a smart lass..."

"Of course, the treaties!" Alistair spoke for the whole group, that earlier trek through the Wilds hadn't been for nothing after all, "Grey Wardens have the oaths of elves, mages and dwarves! We can call upon their aid during blights!"

"I may be old, but elves, mages, dwarves, this arl eamon and who knows what else...this sounds like an army to me."

"So can we do this?" Alistair asked, "Go out, find these people and gather an army?"

"I doubt it'll be that easy." Even as Grey Wardens, Gimli knew that just about all of them, including Alistair, had no experience with actually convincing these different groups to do anything. He and Aeducan were Sun-touched as far as Orzammar was concerned, Gilead wasn't familiar with this part of Ferelden, Cousland had been disinherited by the violence inherent in surface politics while Tabris was technically a criminal who propagated the violence in response to an unfair practice of the system.

Yeah this wasn't going to be easy.

"When is it ever?" Flemeth apparently thought the same thing that Gimli did or was amused by this hopeless task. Either way, she looked like she was having a blast.

"It's always been the Grey Wardens duty to stand against the Blight..." Alistair breathed, the weight of this goal clear in his mind, "And right now...we are the Grey Wardens..."

"Isn't that Grey Wardens do?" Shatele asked confused and almost frightened that they weren't going to fulfill their pledges, "I didn't know there was a choice in the matter..."

"There is Shatele...there's always a choice," Revan told his sister, "The seven of us could actually leave Ferelden and seek out the wardens in the Free Marches or...Orlais..."

"Or we could find the nearest ship and flee for Antiva." Gimli off-handedly suggested, even though the death rate was pretty high there for some reason.

"I vote for Tevinter!" Mairon raised his hand but was disappointed when all others ignored him, "No one else?"

"But I don't know about the rest of you, for me leaving isn't an option." Revan stated as Gimli just chuckled, "Ferelden's my home, if I won't fight for it then who will?"

"You think you're the only one with anything at stake?" Lily asked, "I might not have anything nice to say about most shemlen, but I've got my papa and family to look after in Denerim...and I'll be damned if I get the hair-brained idea of leaving them to face...those creatures..."

"Well said, Mistress Tabris..." Durin complemented before he spoke his peace, "As for myself, I have no obligation to aid this country frankly. But as pointed out before this battle, when the darkspawn overrun you surfacers, then they will return in force onto my people. Father in his old age has enough to worry about between Harrowmont and Bhelen..."

"Faithless is he who turns aside when the road grows dark." Gilead said to himself and the others, "I dedicated my bow to fight this blight and it shall be so."

"Do I really have to?" Gimli looked at each warden and with Flemeth's nod, Gimli rolled his eyes and said, "Honestly, I've got no reason to stick my neck out for anyone on this sun-roasted surface. Same back in Orzammar, the only person who'd miss me when I die is my sister and she'll forget about me as soon as she pops out a mini-noble and gets all the riches."

"You know...I'm in the same shoes." Mairon admitted, "The closest thing I have to care for on this forsaken world are the caged-rats in the Circle Tower or pony who is no longer with us."

"Maybe if you hadn't set him on fire-"

"But there's so much in this world to see and do!" Mairon cut off Gilead with his confession, "So much to learn and so little time as it is...so let's deal with this Blight so I can learn all that there is to learn without interruption."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna turn tail and run, I wanna see how this turns out." Gimli assured the others, ignoring Durin's suspicious snarl, "Besides, this blight's gonna catch up to us wherever we go anyway, right?"

"Then you are settled?" Flemeth asked the resolute wardens, "Ready to become Grey Wardens?"

"But they already drank a cup of-" Revan motioned to Shatele to not finish before she nodded, "Sorry brother..."

"It's alright," Revan himself barely remembered that the Joining was to be kept secret from non-wardens, "We've already drank the cup of duty that being a Grey Warden entails...we have a choice, but anything aside from the obvious is moot."

"What shall you do now then?" Flemeth inquired further, almost delighted by this whole quest that the wardens were about to set out on, "Not throw yourselves at the darkspawn horde, no?"

"I thought we were going to build an army."

"We are Shatele," Revan clarified to his sister, "Flemeth just wants to know where we'll go from here."

"Basically, she wants us off her lawn." Gimli added casually.

"Surely there must be more you could do to assist us?" Mairon greedily asked, the other wardens had a feeling that he wasn't at all referring to their mission.

"Disregard him, Asha'bellanar..." Gilead said, narrowing his eye when Amell stuck out his tongue, "We are already in your debt..."

"No...no...Thank you..." Flemeth stated, "You are the Grey Wardens here, not I. Now before you depart, there is yet one more thing I can offer."

"The Stew is bubbling mother...shall we have eight guests for the eve?" Morrigan inquired when she emerged from the hut and looked from warden to warden with a dull expression, "Or none?"

"The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly and you will be joining them."

"Such a shame-" The look on Morrigan's face when she realized what Flemeth had said was far too priceless for Gimli to not laugh, "What!"

"You heard me girl, when last I checked, you had ears."

"A witch of the wilds as our ally..." Mairon thought out loud while observing Morrigan's figure, "I think that's an excellent idea, no?" Despite the support that Morrigan would likely bring, the other wardens did not trust Mairon's ulterior motive.

"Have I no say in this?"

"Doesn't look like it." Gimli replied, "On the bright side, you're not most men's type so you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"You have been iching to get out of the wilds for years, now is your chance." Flemeth told her daughter, "As for you wardens, consider this repayment for your lives."

"Very well, she comes with us."

"Wait a minute, who put in charge in this assembly?" Durin demanded after Revan spoke, "If I recall, the general social law dictates that it is the most senior of a group who suggests and at times designates the group's course of action. Therefore it should be either myself as the oldest or Alistair as the one who has been a Grey Warden the longest who should be in charge!"

"Except that Alistair himself is barely a Junior Warden and doesn't really seem up to it...no offense..."

"None taken..." Alistair brushed off Gimli's apology, "Besides, we shouldn't be hung up on who's in charge. Even if Revan is pretty the only who could...be in charge..."

"What?" They'd already been betrayed by one human lord, Lily saw little reason in having their little group uninamously led by another spoiled noble brat.

"He does have a point." Gimli conceeded, "Revan is the son of a high-ranking lord...and compared to a me...a casteless former carta bouncer...an exiled dishonored prince...a dalish which by itself means living with a target on his head...an ex-templar...and the proven murderer of a noble's son and his guards..."

"He had it coming and I'm not apologizing..." Lily said with a chuckle, Revan gave her a slight glare but shook his head and dropped it.

"It doesn't matter anyway...we need a course of action, not a hierarchy..." Revan stated to the group, "As for Morrigan, I don't see any reason why she shouldn't come with us...if she has no objection of course."

"Not to...look a gift hoarse in the mouth, but won't that add to our problems?" Alistair brought up, "Outside of the Wilds, she's an apostate."

"Yes and we're just the only group capable of defending against the Blight, no?" Mairon knew what Alistair was concerned about and it annoyed him, "I'm sure the Templars won't be that fanatical...now if we were in Kirkwall then it would be a different story..."

"Mother..." Morrigan really didn't want to go apparently, "This isn't exactly how I wanted this...I'm not even ready!"

"You must be ready, child." Flemeth told her daughter, "Alone, these wardens must unite Ferelden, if they fail then all will fall to the Blight...even I."

"I...understand..."

"And you wardens...I entrust to you that which is most precious to me..." Flemeth brought to their attention tenderly, "I do this of course because you must succeed."

"You have my word...she will not come to harm." Gilead promised the Witch of the Wilds before turning to his companions, "Right?"

"If she doesn't give reason..." Gilead dangerously eyed his fellow archer, "I'm only speaking my mind..."

"At least you are honest..." Morrigan stated, "Allow me to get my things, if you please..."

"What can she do?" Mairon innocently inquired of the Witch of the Wilds.

"You would like to know, wouldn't you Amell?" Flemeth asked as if she were dangling a treat above the mage's nose, "She'll reveal her talents...as you travel alongside her..."

* * *

><p>"I do not understand." Cassandra confessed while standing before the Orator, "After all these centuries of keeping herself out of all common knowledge, Flemeth makes herself known to the Wardens?"<p>

"They weren't exactly in a powerful position to argue." The Orator explained, "Nor did they intend to refuse help from a very powerful witch."

"This seems to be a common thread between your stories." Cassandra addressed both the Orator and a grinning Varric, "Flemeth rescues both the Wardens and the Champion to in-debt them into fulfilling a favor for her...Coincidence? I think not!"

"Don't worry, she has a tendency to over think things."

"Did she offer any other aid?"

"Nothing overly helpful..." The Orator related, "Just some leftovers from wandering Chasind folk that she tossed into their waiting hands..."

* * *

><p>"Once again, you are too kind Flemeth." Revan said in gratitude as he slung his shield over his back and sheathed the Chasind blade Flemeth gave him. It had been several hours since the wardens had found themselves as the only ones capable of stopping the Blight and were now standing in front of Flemeth's hut, no longer wearied or tired, but now fully active and armed in equipment that the old witch had came across during her stay here in the Wilds.<p>

"Old Flemeth has a thing about gifts young wolf," Flemeth replied, "This blade and a knife to go along with it should replace what you lost during the battle. I would recommend finding a better shield soon, since it will take some skill to repair the one on your back. I also have here a concoction I brewed for your injuries. Do take care and not strain yourself before the climax of your trial."

"Thank you ma'am." Revan raised an eyebrow he saw Alistair shake his head while Lily giggled, "What? Oh...very mature..."

"Seeker Mahariel, you likely knew that your bow was beyond repair." Mahariel nodded sadly as Flemeth spoke, "However, this one should suffice until you find a weapon of greater quality...the Chasind are not known for long-ranged weaponry."

"Ma serannas, Asha'bellanar..." While the Wilds Bow was not of Dalish make nor of Illen's handiwork, the wooden bow did have a graceful curve to its limbs and was adorned markings that seem inspired by nature.

"Despite your words, I intend to repay you for this armor." Durin stated to the witch and then examined his two-handed weapon, a Chasind Crusher, "If I might ask, where did you acquire this Warhammer?"

"Perhaps I killed barbarian and stored his weapon under my bed, Lord Aeducan." Flemeth answered in a manner that made Gimli gulp, "The history of a weapon matters not for it is but a tool. It is it's usage in the present that determines is usefulness.

"Agreed." Durin decided not to argue against the witch's point.

"I hope you enjoy your attire, Lady Tabris." Flemeth watched as Lily flexed and stretched out, "You are very quick, but as you very well know...even the quickest rabbit is all too defenseless when caught by the snake. The tunic should provide more appropriate protection without hampering your...flexibility."

"Thanks..." The city elf flipped backwards while brandishing her new knives before landing, "Doubly for these knives...they don't match, but it's what you do with what you got that counts."

"Yes...you are a smart one." Flemeth chuckled before Mairon slowly walked up to her with his hands together in front of his neck, "Amell, no I will not teach you to turn into a dragon."

"Damn..." The mage snapped his fingers in disappointment while Flemeth handed him a worn out book.

"But I believe this journal I happened upon long ago shall serve you well and how do you like your robes?"

"I'm going to sleep in these!" Mairon squeeled in delight, caressing his fur shoulder pads pleasantly, "I almost feel like falling asleep right here and now!"

"As for you, Brosca of the unwanted." Gimli didn't seem surprised at how he was addressed, "Apart from your garments and the repair to your contrapment, I also have something that would be of great use to you." Gimli took the gift in his hands but...he thought that this was a joke.

"A jar of dirt?" Maybe there something special about this jar, but Gimli couldn't see it. When someone has been compared to dirt all their life, it's usually not safe to give them a jar full of said dirt.

"Obviously." Flemeth didn't seem to catch this notion.

"Is...the jar of dirt going to help?"

"If you don't want it, give it back."

"No!" Despite whatever insult this dirt might represent, Gimli did want to live and if that meant keeping this jar that might hold something special, so be it.

"Then it helps." Flemeth left Gimli alone as Shatele enjoyed her own minor gift, "I see that the Chasind Flatblade has at least one admirer."

"Thank you, Lady Flemeth." Shatele said while sheathing her sword before she hurt someone.

"You are welcome child. Is something the matter?"

"Doesn't Alistair get a gift?"

"But I've already given him one." Shatele followed Flemeth's gaze towards the opening door of the hut, "Here she comes now."

"I am at your disposal Grey Wardens..." Morrigan half-heartedly greeted, "I suggest a village further north of the wilds as our first destination."

"Lothering?" As far as Mairon knew, that was the closest village to these wilds. If anything Lealion told him was true, they'd likely be better off going to West Hill or South Reace. What significance could possibly come from that backwater town?

"Yes...It is not far and you'll find what you need there." Morrigan elaborated, "That or I shall simply be your silent guide."

"I'd honestly wish you speak your opinion." Mairon admitted as Flemeth began to laugh.

"Oh! You're going to regret that."

"Farewell mother...Don't forget the stew on the fire, I'd hate to come home to a burned down hut..."

"Asha'bellanar..." Gilead was concerned about what would happen to Flemeth once they left, "What will you do once we are gone?"

"Have a moment's peace..."

"I hear the peace of the grave is eternal..."

"This is the thanks I get for feeding you and putting up with you for this long?" Morrigan didn't seem affected by her mother's outrage, "Bah! May your child treat you the same way..."

"Feed me, she says..." Morrigan chuckled, "Without me I swear, she should be caked in dirt and eating treebark inside of a month!"

"It is far more likely that you'll return to see this entire area, swallowed by the blight! Along with myself."

"I..." Even if it was warranted, Morrigan remained stunned when her mother hit her with the true implication of events surrounding this marsh, "all I meant was-"

"I know dear...do try to have fun."

"Before we go..." Gilead spoke again, "Do you have advice for us, Asha'bellanar?"

"About the darkspawn? Then hear this..." The Wardens waited as Flemeth spoke, "I laugh at a world full of stupid humans who ignore the Blight's evil and abandon their vigilance to chase mortal goals. Remember...it is up to you to destroy the Blight, pray not for someone else to destroy it. It will always nip at your heels."

"I will consider your words..." Mahariel stated with a respectful nod, "Dareth Shiral, Asha'bellanar..."

"Then we are done...now if you'll excuse me, I have some dinner to eat." Flemeth said before returning the nod to the Dalish elf, "Dareth Shiral...Seeker of the Dales..." With that, she walked past the Wardens and went inside of her little hut.

"Is she like that all the time?"

"Unfortunately..." Morrigan replied to Gimli, "Shall we get underway...Grey Wardens?" Underway...underway into a world now threatened by darkspawn and it's own stupidity. Once they got to Lothering, they would have to decide where to go, who to speak to, what to do in preparation for this Blight and they would be by themselves...

"Yes...let's get out of the cold Wilds...away from the darkspawn horde and back to civilization!"

"I second that motion." As much as Durin hated to agree with the Casteless, these Wilds were a bit more cold than the dwarf could comfortably handle.

"Are you sure your mother-" Morrigan just walked without facing Mairon, the mage knew that the witch knew what he was about to ask and put the topic down for the moment, "Fine...let's get out this place..."

"I'm not looking forward to this..." Lily admitted as the group slowly began their treck out of the Wilds, "At least we had beds in the Alienage..."

"After a couple of nights, the grass beneath the tent fills like a mattress..." Revan assured Tabris, though she hardly agreed.

"Are you coming Lord Gilead?" Shatele asked the Dalish elf, who slowly stalked behind the departing group and gazed back at the hut of the Witch of the Wilds.

"Yes..." He replied to the young girl, "Do not worry for me..." Shatele smiled and ran up ahead to catch up with her brother while Gilead brought up to the group's rear.

"Spooked?" Gilead nodded to Gimli's question, "So was I...Think I'll be keeping an eye out on Morrigan..."

"As shall I..." Even though Flemeth was a woman to be respected, Gilead was no fool...those of greatest respect are often capable of the greatest treachery. Even amongst the Dalish, the tales of Flemeth were far and many...but they all had a common point...a point that made Gilead all the more wary of Flemeth's "daughter".

* * *

><p><strong>Royal Palace, Denerem<strong>

The palace was now filled with a large audience on this day, the King's funeral was only a day or so away as news poured into the Ferelden capital of the disaster at Ostagar. The nobles were filled with doubt and lingering shock, Maric's loss at sea was still fresh in the minds of many and now his only son had fallen against the darkspawn without an heir to the throne.

It was in this hour that Loghain, liberator of this land, had stepped forth to aid his beloved Ferelden as he addressed this assembly of lords and ladies with his daughter, Queen Anora standing at his side. He had barely stopped since arriving in Denerem barely days ago and immediately sent word to Howe and his own remaining forces in Gwaren.

"And I shall expect each of you to support these men!" Loghain called out to his fellow nobles, "We must rebuild what was lost at Ostagar and quickly! There are those who would take advantage of our weakened state if we let them. We must defeat this darkspawn incursion but we must do so sensibly and without hesistation." He would not make Cailan's mistake, he would not allow his mindset to be poisoned by Orlais, be they Grey Warden or not.

"Teryn Loghain, if I might speak..." Loghain motioned with his hand to allow a usually quiet noble, Bann Teagan Guerrin from Rainsfere to say his piece, "You have declared yourself Queen Anora's regent and claim we must unite under your banner for our own good."

"But what the army we lost at Ostagar?" Loghain didn't like where Teagan was going, he could already see the lines emerging, "Your withdrawal was most fortuitous..." Some within the crowd gasped in shock and disbelief, Loghain had to hand it to the noble this was not a great time to state such words. But as Loghain himself knew, only a fool allows time to dictate true action.

"Everything I have done, it is done to secure Ferelden's independence-"

"Such as granting Howe command over both Denerem and Highever without consideration for any other survivors of the Cousland or Urien lines?" News of the Cousland massacre had already spread amongst the nobility and Loghain expected trouble after appointing Howe as Teryn of Highever. But now Teagan was deliberating stepping on Loghain's toes, "I doubt it-"

"I have not shirked my duty to the throne and neither should any of you!" Duty to the throne? Loghain laughed in his mind when he realized what he had said. Maker's breath, he caught the irony of his own words before they ever left his mouth, but his duty was not to the crown, it was to Ferelden.

And Ferelden was now turning against him.

"The bannorn will not bow to you simply because you demand it!" Teagan cried out as whispers and rising voices spread through the crowd. Not all had heeded Teagan's words, but Loghain knew that enough of them had...dissent was growing.

"Understand this, I will brook no threat to this nation from you or anyone!"

"I never said that I was threatening-"

"You're just like your brother, Teagan." Subconsciously or not, Loghain knew that family resemblances were always easy to catch, "Even now, you try to stir dissention amongst our countrymen!"

"The only one I see stirring dissent is you." Teagan replied without raising his voice, "Actions have a way of speaking louder than words." Seeing that he would gain nothing more from speaking with this upstart, Loghain strolled across the balcony, ready to depart from this meeting.

"Bann Teagan, my father is doing what is best."

"Did he also do what was best for you husband, your majesty?" Loghain stopped when he heard the bann address Anora, "And last I checked, was it not you and nephew who were the rulers of Ferelden? The Bannorn would support you if you placed your father in check."

"I stand my decision, Bann Teagan." Loghain heard her daughter speak, "Need I remind you who is queen?"

"With respect, you don't seem to remember that fact yourself." Loghain mentally kept from reaching for his blade when he turned back to watch Teagan, "Maker watch over you...Queen Anora..." The man dared speak so sarcastically and disrespectfully and then bowed as if he never breached his respect for the Queen of Ferelden. His fatherly instincts wanted to leap over and kill the upstart, but the tactician had already determined what Teagan was doing.

"So that's they call him the Bann-Hammer." Loghain mused before he turned to leave once more and saw a puppy fly out of an open doorway and hit the floor of the palace. The puppy was alive, but wimpered with a broken leg, "Who kicked the puppy?"

"Oh that was me..." Howe confessed while leaning inside the doorway, "Problem?" Loghain now didn't know who he was angrier with more, Teagan, the Bannorn, Orlais, or Howe for kicking that poor mabari puppy.

"Well this about settles any doubts I had..." Teagan cried up as he picked up the crying puppy and carried the poor thing out of the meeting while several ladies either followed him or swooned at his compassion. Those who remained deathly glared at Loghain while Howe chuckled.

"Thank you by the way!" Loghain barked to Howe as he walked past his reluctant ally, "Now they'll never accept me willingly!"

"Whoever said it had to be willingly?" Even as he walked away from that foul monster, Loghain couldn't surpress feelings of regret that he held for so much. What did he regret? Leaving Maric's son to die? Taking command of Ferelden from his own capable daughter? Or placing a known murderer in place of a good man who would have never approved of any of Loghain's actions.

But it didn't matter now, Bryce was dead. So was Maric and Cailan. There was only Ferelden and he was the only one who could protect it...

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**So The Six have officially begun their true journey. With Ferelden's fate completely on their shoulders, will they be able to live up to their titles and defeat the Blight? You might know the answer, but it's the process that's fun to watch, no?**

**The Next Arc should be out in Mid to late-November, but my updating schedule is always tentative so simply stay tuned.  
><strong>

**This story has exceeded 2,000 hits now. If I were a douche then I will raise my nose and say that this was all thanks to me. Since I'm not a douche, I thank all readers and reviewers for their input.**

**Also try and guess just which character alignment these six would fall into...I swear that it's not painfully obvious...**

**One more thing, why is Bann Teagan so popular?  
><strong>


	11. Bark over to Lothering

**Copyright: You're on a fanfiction site, do I really need to say anything? Why would I want to be sued?**

* * *

><p><em>Revan was just barely keeping himself on his feet. He didn't have a choice, Shatele and Rabbit were up the stairs with the others. He cursed himself for going down alone in the event that something like this happened. The darkspawn had sent reinforcements and were now attempting to take back the tower and possibly put out the signal.<em>

_Cousland slashed with his sword, relieving a hurlock of it's head before another arrow flew into his chest. He'd been struck more times than he could count, but he refused to fall, he swore to his father that he would protect her...protect Ferelden. There was no room to quit, with that thought burning through his mind, he charged towards the hurlock archer and ran his already damaged dagger through the creature's chest, not caring when the blade snapped inside the tainted flesh._

_That was when **he** came...the wall of darkspawn around Cousland parted when **he** came. A newcomer arrayed in Grey Runic Armor with golden runic details across the massive armor set. The newcomer was armed with two swords but had one of them sheathed, Cousland felt the eyes of the newcomer bore into his very soul. It wasn't like the cruel, soulless stares of the darkspawn around them...it was the dim glow from one who had seen what lies within a great abyss, as though this being had seen the Black City itself and was warped by what he saw._

_Either way, it changed nothing for Revan...he would not pass, not while he still drew breath..._

_Revan slashed out with his sword, somehow unsurprised when the Runic Warrior blocked the blow with his own and the Cousland Scion felt unimaginable pain as a fiery sword now unsheathed slashed across his stomach._

_Struggling against the warrior's strength, Revan spun and bashed the Warrior's chest before going in for a stab, but the Cousland Shield was sent flying across the room, leaving him vulnerable for when the warrior stabbed through his shoulder and his chest._

_Hearing screams from above, Revan desperately tried to pry himself from the Warrior's blades as the Warrior just released his grip and allowed Revan to fall backwards onto the floor.  
><em>

_It was just like before..._

_He turned over his head and saw Bryce Cousland lying beside him._

_"Why did you fail me?" His father whimpered as Revan struggled to pull himself towards his bleeding father, unable to move because of the great sword impaled into his chest and shoulder, "Why did you fail them? Fail our family?"_

_As his vision began to fade, Revan Cousland could already hear the dragon of death call forth from the sky as a fiery blast became the last thing that he ever saw..._

* * *

><p><em>It roared in the shadows of the deep...<em>

_Every step made within the darkness, every breath, every motion of it's tail was a horrific echo to those who could see it..._

_Worshiped of old as a god, this dragon now lurked free within the chasms of the unknown world. Below it, it's armies of tainted shadows marshaled in reverence and fear of their tainted lord..._

_It unfurled it's wings and flew forth into the air. Roaring as it glided across to the other side of the great underground lair once mastered by the now weakened dwarves..._

_Recently, his army had managed a great victory against the kingdoms of the surface. Now that their king was dead, the humans would war with one another while It sent forth his legions..._

_It knew that it was not the first of his kind to launch this campaign against the surface, but with each generation...the fallen gods of tevinter had passed on the knowledge of the fallen to the next and so it was with him...the 5th of his kind..._

_Flanking him were his warriors of virtue armored in ancient runic armor mocking their past life. They would serve him well in this coming war and two already had..._

_It was thanks to them and their ability to manipulate the faith and hearts of men that it's greatest enemy, the Wardens of Grey, were now no more...or so it seemed...  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Camp in the Wilderness<strong>

He saw it again.

It was nothing that he hadn't expected, but Alistair could never get used to the idea of a severe lack of restful sleep.

Granted, joining before or during a blight was supposed to be the worst time for grey warden recruits, but now, sleeping out in the wild seemed more of a chore for him.

Even when surrounded by his new fellow grey wardens and companions. A Dalish outcast who he had met first with a reasonable prejudice towards human culture, but was still open for a conversation. Two Dwarves from Orzammar, both exiled for different reasons and were really fun to just watch. A young elven girl from the Denerem Alienage with enough attitude to give the average zealous Chantry sister a run for their money. A son of nobility with determination to protect Ferelden and his very beautiful...if socially odd sister.

Then there were the mages.

Perhaps it was a remnant of his time as a templar, but Alistair couldn't shake the bad feeling that he had for either of them. He didn't feel bad about mistrusting Morrigan, the witch of the wilds. But he did feel as though he was unfairly judging Mairon. Sure, the mage warden was...eccentric about his newfound freedom, but he was a strong asset to the group and had yet to turn his powerful magic against them.

Yet.

But he still missed the others...the Senior Grey Wardens who welcomed him as their brother regardless of his...background. What happened at Ostagar, shouldn't have happened...it just wasn't right.

Deciding that now wasn't the time, he noticed Revan Cousland shift restlessly in his sleep. Maybe he was starting to have "Nightmares."

"Trouble sleeping?" Alistair asked as Revan sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"It's nothing new, I haven't slept much since I left home."

"Then it's only going to get worse from here." Failing to see Revan motion unbelievably, Alistair understood why, "You've noticed..."

"Everyone has," Cousland answered while rubbing his eyes, "It's the Joining...isn't it?"

"Yes." Alistair exhaled, remembering back to everything that Duncan and the other wardens had told him about this, "You see...part of being a Grey Warden means being able to hear the darkspawn. Our dreams...that's what they are. Hearing them."

"The Archdemon...it..." The notion Alistair was about to describe disturbed him to say the least, "Talks to the horde. And we feel it just as they do...That's how we know that this is a Blight."

"Archdemon...The others..."

"It gets all of us sooner or later." Alistair stated when Revan looked around at the other wardens sleeping scattered throughout the camp, "It takes a bit, but eventually you can learn to block the dreams out. Some of the older Grey Wardens say that they can understand the archdemon a bit, but I sure can't..."

"We'll have to work on it then." Revan stated, taking out a bottle filled with Flemeth's medicine and drained it.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised that you said that," Alistair admitted, "Anyhow when I saw you thrashing around I that should tell you. It was...scary for me...when I first joined..."

"I appreciate it Alistair." Revan replied as he stood up, "Dawn's coming, we should break camp and get moving."

"You sure?" Alistair really wouldn't have minded resting for a little longer, but he knew that the darkspawn were gaining ground, "Then again, we have lingered here for a while."

"It wouldn't be as bad except..." Revan stopped for a moment as if a thought had hit him and turned back to Alistair, "I knew it...they can sense us as well?"

"Not as well...but yes." Alistair was really starting to see why Duncan went through all this trouble for at least one of the new wardens, "Sensing them is a double-edged sword...some of the smarter darkspawn can...sense us if they really wanted to."

"Then we'd best get away from the main horde." Revan yawned as he stood on his feet and Alistair noticed the noble place two fingers at the tip of mouth and then whistled...

The most shrill, loud and annoying sound that Alistair had ever heard.

"That noise!"

"What in Andraste's knickers is that!"

"By the Dread Wolf!"

"Caridin's beard!"

"So refreshing...not..."

"Time to wake up!" Shatele excitedly said as she danced to her feet and the rest of the camp grumbled once Revan ceased his "wake-up" call.

"And I thought the mating calls of the Chasind was the worst thing I'd ever hear!"

"It's time to move out." Revan called out to his fellow wardens, "We can't linger here."

"What ever happened to...just ringing a bell or clanging your sword against that shield of yours?"

"This was quicker."

"Fine!" Lily held her ear with building fury as she started gathering her things, "My ear's gonna feel this for the whole week!"

"Oh shut up..." Mairon said to himself before a staff punched in his stomach, "It was only for a few more seconds..."

"And then it becomes a few more hours..." Morrigan said before she started walking off, "But if you would prefer us to leave you at the darkspawn's mercy, then I shall oblige you."

"As much as killing more darkspawn is appealing." Mairon jumped to his feet and picked up his robe, "This Lothering town is far more interesting...Lealion told me that it was a real slag-hole. Perfect place for...research..."

"Advice for you friend," Durin offered Revan as he rubbed his hands over his ears, "Next time you wanna wake us up...just shake us really hard or find a bell!"

"I think I feel blood in my ears..." Gimli said as he dug a finger into his ear and pulled it out, "Oh...just wax."

"Disgusting..." Durin muttered as he watched Gimli eat the wax on his finger.

"How so?"

"Of course, typical for a casteless." Durin said while Gimli resisted the urge to pull out his crossbow, Kalah.

"What odd company I travel with..." Morrigan breathed as the company began to clear up the camp and prepared to move out.

"Coming from you that's actually funny..." Alistair said to himself after getting his armor and weaponry on. It would take a little while longer to get to Lothering from here and one could not be too careful during a blight...

* * *

><p><strong>Off of the Imperial Highway<strong>

"Lothering should only be a few days from here..." Shatele heard her brother report to the others. She skipped at his side, counting how many butterflies that she could spot in this wilderness and how many times Rabbit got a treat from Morrigan.

"You said that yesterday...and the day before!" Lily shouted in annoyance, "Damn Shemlan..."

"He's likely using the old "shepard's trick."

"Shepard's trick? What's that supposed to be?"

"The apparent notion that people will follow anyone for any reason if there's even the slightest hint at a reward at the end of the long road."

"Oh..." Gimli replied to Gilead's explanation, "Make's sense...kind of explains most humans out here."

"Here we go..." Alistair muttered, "So what if humans are stupid bastards? Does that mean elves, dwarves and mages can't be either?"

"Dwarves are very capable of being bastards." Durin corrected, "But we are at least smart about it."

"Wait if I recall..." Mairon sat on a ruined fence as he pondered a thought, "How long did you think you would fall into the sky?"

"You're never gonna let that down?" Gimli asked as Durin cringed as he looked up at the sky and kept walking forward in slight fright, "We've lived our whole lives underground, what do you expect?"

"It sounds amusing, why should he?" Morrigan asked from behind Alistair, who looked like he really wanted to bash in the woman's head with a rock with every word that she said. True, she was a mean woman, but Shatele didn't really see the need to kill her or to be hostile.

"Besides, I was raised most of my life in tall cities." Mairon stated, "Does that mean I fear that I'll float on these lowlands? No."

"Hold." Revan held up his hand and used the other to grip his chest. Shatele reached for her flatblade, ready to defend her strong but still wounded brother.

"You sense it as well?"

"Yeah." Revan answered Gilead as the elf warrior readied his bow, "Get ready."

"Form up!" Alistair called out to the others. The warriors formed the front while Mairon and Morrigan stayed in the rear and Gimli and Lily stayed just behind the warriors. "Oh..."

"It's just a mabari..." Shatele said as a hound with grey fur ran towards the group at top speed, "Followed by darkspawn." Close behind it was a pack of hurlocks and genlocks that were probably hungry and thought the hound would be a good meal.

But one, how would they share that dog amongst all of them. Two, it was a hound! The very idea of killing a hound for food was horrible to the young lady.

"Get behind us boy!" Shatele called out as the hound ran past her and huddled behind Lily.

"Not behind me..." Lily grumbled before ducked under an arrow and looked over at the nearby ridge, "They're on the ridge!"

"Called em!" Gimli cried out as he pulled Kalah's trigger and went to work on the darkspawn archers that stood on the nearby ridge just under the highway. Meanwhile, the warrior line met the darkspawn group and already several hurlocks and genlocks fell to the ground slain.

"Break in!" Revan called out as the darkspawn surged upon the group. Durin swiped through a genlock as he stepped in to tighten the warden formation as an accurate and swift Gilead did the same. Alistair blocked a thrown axe at the same time that he stabbed through a hurlock and pushed the corpse aside before he twirled into a violent assault dance that slew a line of darkspawn that attacked him.

Unmoving, Revan slashed through any enemy he could spot, the family shield on his back to protect him as he went to work. But after killing a genlock, he grunted and nearly lost balance as two hurlocks charged at him. One was pulled off balance by Rabbit before Shatele stabbed through it's chest as she shoved the other and grabbed it's neck.

"Don't push yourself..." Shatele worriedly said to Revan as the darkspawn snapped at her face, "Not now! I'm talking to my brother sir!" The Cousland lady tightened her grip to instantly snap the hurlock's neck and used the corpse as a shield against a hurlock with a hammer before running her flatblade through it's torso and lifting it off of it's feet.

"_Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow._" Lily chanted as she drew out her knives, "_In their blood the Maker's will is written._" She sprinted, jumped onto Revan's back as he thrust into a hurlock and flipped over Shatele and threw a sealed vase of red liquid into the incoming darkspawn before landing and slashing her blades through a hurlock's neck. As the hurlock fell, the vase splashed it's content onto the creature's and they wreathed in pain as the fire on their bodies melted away their skin.

"Should I?" Mairon asked referring to the darkspawn around them. Morrigan chuckled after running her staff through a genlock and unleashed a wave of frost from her free hand that encased the creatures to where they appeared as icicle statues, "Confident...let's see what you can do then, Witch of the Wilds..."

"Observe." Morrigan threw down her staff and somersaulted into the air before a mist of magic surrounded her and formed into a large spider that barrel-rolled over a hurlock stabbed another one with two of it's legs.

"Is that..."

"Yep..." A frightened Alistair answered an equally intrigued Durin, "She can turn into a giant spider."

"Odd."

"You find this odd?"

"Yes!" Durin yelled at Brosca, "I didn't know magic-folk could turn into...spiders!" The spider fired a spray of webbing from it's mouth that trapped four darkspawn and left them helpless to when it stalked over to them and tore out their chests.

"Fascinating." Mairon complemented as he thoughtlessly tripped a genlock and fired an arcane bolt through it's face, "Now I really want to know how to turn into a dragon..."

"What is it with you and dragons?" Gilead asked as he picked off several darkspawn archers on a nearby hill.

"Because they're mystical and powerful, why not?" Mairon answered as he fired a blast of mana into the fray that blew out and rather than physically hitting the darkspawn, seemed to mentally blast them and leave them standing, dazed and vulnerable.

"Well aimed Master Mage!" Gilead complemented as he picked off the dazed darkspawn and looked around to see that the battle was won. "That's all of them."

"These darkspawn are advancing pretty quickly..." Gimli noted casually as he reloaded Kalah and looked at the aftermath of the engagement, "Maybe we should just skip Lothering altogether."

"This is was a scouting party." Alistair commented while pushing a large hurlock off of his shield and wincing from the wound on his thigh, "We should pick up pace before we see more of them."

"The dull one is right." Alistair screamed when a giant blood covered spider spoke and vanished in a mist of dispelled magic to reveal Morrigan, "Once the horde discovers that this band is slain, they will send a greater one to find us.

"...Go...Go away..." The party readied themselves and ran over to where Lily was pinned down and helpless before the happy licks of a mighty foe, "Help!"

"Relax Lady Tabris..." Revan said with a light chuckle as Lily managed to get out from under the mabari that the wardens had just rescued, "The hound just likes you."

"Why? I don't even-" As the hound whined, Lily brushed off it's head and looked at it knowingly, "You? You're that hound from the pen..."

"What is it?"

"This hound was at Ostagar..." Lily answered as she stood on her feet and the dog happily barked as if to say yes, "I...saw him before the battle..."

"So that's why you were looking for a Wild's Flower..."

"Since when was it your business?" Lily barked at Revan and was startled when the hound licked her face, "Stop it..."

"I think he might've been out here looking for you." Alistair noted as the hound happily pranced around a frightened and annoyed Lily, "Looks like the mabari has imprinted itself on you..."

"Imprinted?"

"That means that the mabari has chosen you as it's master for life." Alistair explained to Lily just as the hound rolled it's back into the dirt, "See? He's already at home with you."

"So what will you name him?" Revan smirked and sat down in front of the hound, "I say you call you-"

"Who asked you!" Lily yelled as the dog happily waited for her to speak, "Since I'm stuck with you...how about...Barkspawn?" The dog almost nodded it's head and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Oh great. The dog has a name." Mairon boredly said as he started rummaging through the darkspawn corpses alongside Gimli and Durin.

"You know...I like that one." Shatele knelt down and watched Rabbit walk up to the newly named warhound and the two of them started to play with each other. "Nice to meet you Barkspawn."

"In any case..." Morrigan sickenly watched the hounds play while their owners looked on in mild confusion, "We now have another mangy beast in our little group...what is next? A singing bard that sings in a manner befitting a loud wail? Or maybe an elf who would lay with a fallen tree if there was a hole where he could stick his-"

"Don't tempt the surface gods, Morrigan." Gimli flicked a bolt into his jacket and slid it in next to a crude axe he had found, "Now we'll run into at least one of those two in our next destination. Maybe even a giant."

"He's not mangy..."

"And Alistair is still the dumbest one amongst us."

"Hey!" Alistair shouted in protest as the group began to move on.

"I second that thought."

"What?" Shatele noted funny face that Alistair made after hearing Mairon put him down. It was kind of humorous and it made her giggle.

"Don't worry Alistair, I believe in your competence."

"Really?"

"No." Durin stated as he walked past the ex-templar and he chuckled again. This time he noticed the Cousland young lady giggling at his faces.

"Is it that funny?" Alistair asked her while wearing a smile, "Why am I the one everyone picks on?"

"You might have grass stains on your butt." Shatele answered after wiping off her shield, "Rabbit always nibbles at me whenever I do."

"I can imagine..." Alistair replied like he was fantasizing about something. Shatele thought that he looked rather silly until a thought occurred to her.

"Alistair?"

"It's...It's nothing Shatele..." It was just as she had thought. He was still sad over the deaths of the other wardens and Duncan. No wonder he was usually quiet around the others.

"You know..." Shatele placed a hand on his shoulder as he looked on questionably yet knowingly, "If you need someone to talk to about...Duncan and the other wardens..."

"I...I appreciate that..." Alistair smiled to Shatele's suggestion, he looked as though he was afraid to ask someone to talk with, "Maybe later, I would...like that..."

"Is there a problem?" Revan called from the front of the group, "We need to get moving!"

"Right, so let's get moving my lady."

"You don't have to call me that all of the time, Alistair."

"It's a bad habit. Like instantly being suspicious of mages."

"Suspicious of who?" Shatele jumped along with Alistair when they noticed Mairon walking past dragging a hurlock corpse, "Maker's breath, I'm getting the hang of spells quicker as a warden!"

"I don't regret the habit with him though..."

"I can see why." Shatele watched the mage drag the darkspawn corpse towards the group that now had runes carved into it's muscles, "Even Rabbit is scared of him."

* * *

><p>"Cute..."<p>

"The human-hating elf woman pets a mabari hound known as a mark of status for nobles..." Varric said to himself, "Is this a foreshadowing of something?"

"Hell if I know, I didn't write the story. I just witnessed it." The Orator admitted, "To this day, I still don't know how it happened."

"Now then," Cassandra butt in, wanting the orator to go to the next part of this tale, "What happened at Lothering?"

"Why? The Wardens went in, passed through and then never went back before-"

"Don't worry, it's got something to do with a problem she's got with my story." Varric apologized while Cassandra sneered at the dwarf, "Keep going and you might make her happy."

"Then don't mind if I do."

* * *

><p><strong>Imperial Highway<strong>

"Oh great..." Alistair lamented as the group came close to the exit point of the Imperial Highway. At the exit was a group of armed bandits in leather and studded armor who had already spotted them.

"Highway men..." Lily rolled her eyes while Barkspawn growled, "Yeah...I know boy..."

"They are fools to challenge us."

"Let's try to resolve this rationally." Revan suggested as the group came closer to the bandits.

"Well...well...what have we here..."

"Look, I can see that you're running a pretty nifty operation here." Gimli complemented while interrupting the bandit ringleader, "But when nine fairly armored people show up with at least two mages then it's smart to cut your losses and let them through."

"Who do you think-"

"Perhaps we should take everything that they have stolen." Durin suggested thoughtfully as the bandit leader fumed, "Whatever we cannot return, we keep for ourselves."

"Wait a-"

"Then what? Turn them into the authorities?" Gilead asked as Mairon started checking his fingers for dirt or whatever else he might have caught in them.

"There are no auth-"

"Sounds like a good idea." Revan agreed as he turned to the now infuriated and insulted ringleader, "What say you?"

"You had to go and make things difficult..." The Ringleader growled before he drew out a pair of handaxes, "I wanna live!"

"Then why are you drawing your weapon?" Durin asked as his fellow wardens drew their weapons as well while the bandits prepared to defend.

"Yeah boss," A larger dim-witted bandit with a large sword agreed, "Shouldn't we just let em through-"

"Shut up!" The Ringleader screamed in anger, "We ain't so helpless you know!"

"Oh I beg to differ." Mairon shot out his arm and fired a light blue blast that impacted the ringleader's chest. It caused no damage, but he did notice flashes of light blink through his fingernails as he walked back into the middle of his group.

As the Wardens slowly realized what Mairon had done, Morrigan took out her staff and emitted a white-blue blast that surged out and encased the ringleader in a form fitting frozen prison.

While half of the group scrambled to free their leader, the rest attacked the wardens and were soundly and messily slain by Alistair, Shatele, Revan, Lily and Durin without any trouble. Meanwhile, Gimli wrapped a blindfold around his eyes before firing a bolt from Kalah that broke through the prison and embedded itself in the ringleader's skull.

Setting off the mana bomb that had been building within him and sending chunks of flesh, bone and ice into the group in a powerful explosion. Seizing the initiative, Gilead's bow sang as he picked off any survivors as Rabbit and Barkspawn played tug-o-war with one of the bandits and ended up ripping the poor man in half.

"Do you have a thing for overkill?"

"Is anyone else going to object?" Mairon held out his arms while the blood-stained wardens took in the unnecessarily brutal mess that Mairon's attack had made. "Didn't think so."

"Why...why did you have to..." Lily was in the middle of slitting a man's throat when the explosion sent a myriad of water and blood onto her back and now the hound was licking it off and...touching a few areas... "Stop it...why are you licking me?"

"He finds you tasty." Revan laughed as he wiped the blood from his family shield.

"What? You want a taste shemlen?"

"Since you're offering-"

"ON TO LOTHERING!" Gimli and Alistair rushed past taking Revan with him as Gimli asked, "Don't you see bait when you see it?"

"Bait for what?"

"Snip snip." Alistair did not need to say more, Revan cringed and turned back to the dangerously smirking elf who was grinding her knives together.

"So...we're not gonna bother with a clean-up?" An oddly clean Morrigan asked while tip toeing through the mess and using her staff to push aside a bandit who had gotten cleaved through by Durin.

"Of course." Gimli rubbed his hands together as he started searching through a nearby corpse and picking out a bag of coins before he started on a cart, "Clean up all of their loot for our limited funds."

"Hey Durin!" Mairon called out from the other side of the carnage, "I found a templar corpse with usable armor!"

"I appreciate the gesture, but I like my current attire." Durin stated to the mage holding up an armored corpse, "Though, he might have fellows who would likely give us a reward."

"How would you know that?" Alistair asked as he recognized something about the knight's armor and ran over to a bored Mairon who decided to drop it. "Besides...it's a knight...of Redcliffe."

"Redcliffe?" Shatele asked as she came over, ignoring that Rabbit was licking blood from her flatblade, "What was he doing here?"

"Does that mean we can't loot it?"

"Gimli!"

"What? He's not gonna need it." Gimli placed a silver medallion in his pack while Revan scowled at his suggestion.

"And neither do we." Gilead stated as he grabbed the body and dragged it down the ramp after handing a journal and a few possessions to Alistair.

"Actually, that armor looks like it would be worth a sovereign." Durin thought aloud, "Or two."

"With all of the blood that has leaked inside, I highly doubt anyone would want it." Morrigan countered dully.

"We could always have the dogs clean it out-"

"Are you all done!" Gilead shouted in visible anxiety and holding his head as though a vein was about to blow, "Or should we start rolling in the puddle until our skin is scarlet red?"

"Sounds fun! Who's first?" Mairon kept looking face to face, seemingly unaware of how repulsive his idea truly was. Even the dog's whined when he turned to them.

"Anyway..." Alistair turned away and started down the exit ramp and took in the view of the nearby serene village, "Lothering. Pretty as a picture? Isn't it?"

"So after all of this, you finally decide to rejoin us?" Morrigan mused, "Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble I take it?"

"Is my being upset so hard to understand? Just how would you feel if your mother died?"

"Before or after her funeral?" Morrigan chuckled before Shatele walked up to her with a disapproving face, "You object as well?"

"Alright ladies, cool down." Gimli came between the two women and smiled nervously as they eyed each other before Morrigan smirked and walked off, "We need to know where we'll go from here."

"Has anyone even gone over the treaties?"

"Yes." "There are a lot of documents and such...I don't think some of these groups even exist anymore."

"Let me see them." Alistair "Here we are."

"Circle of Magi...Dwarves of Orzammar...Dalish Elves...I believe that these are the three most prominent groups so we should focus on them the most and I still think appealing to Arl Eamon is our best option."

"Then maybe we should head to Redcliffe next." Revan agreed, "It's only a few days north and west and has a sturdy stronghold."

"Nonsense, this Arl Eamon is, but a single man." Durin pointed out while counting the coinage that he had found, "My own deeds aside, father will not hesitate to marshal the dwarves if we come."

"How about no."

"You have objections Brosca?"

"Apart from going back to that hell hole filled with up-stuck nobles too stupid and full of themselves to-" Gimli jumped when he saw something fall to the ground. A bird scorched by a deliberate over usage of fire magic.

"Oh I'm sorry...did I interrupt you?" Mairon asked as Gimli gulped, "Please, continue...Finished? Then I say we go to the circle of magi."

"Actually, Amell's suggestion is favorable to me." Morrigan said, "We can even throw a bone at the poor caged souls."

"Right...and this is the part where we hear that you've never had a friend in your life?"

"I can be friendly when I wish...just not with those lacking in common intellect..."

"As much as I hate agreeing with Mairon, we all saw what a few mages did at Ostagar."

"Indeed." Durin said in agreement with Lily, "And perhaps we can learn of this "magic".

"Perhaps the Circle is our best option." Gilead said as if disgusted with agreeing with Mairon, "My clan has already gone north and the only other clan in Ferelden moves too frequently to determine where they would be."

"Then we're agreed." Revan leaned on a nearby bench and looked over the town, "Where are the bann's men? Any suggestions Morrigan?"

"At the moment, it seems that Loghain is the greatest of your problems." Morrigan reasoned, "Go to his stronghold and kill him. Then deal with the darkspawn later."

"You know...why don't we just do that?" Mairon chimed in, "Just...murder him and be done with it?"

"Oh! That's a great plan!" Alistair agreed with obviously fake enthusiasm, "And he'll just be standing there waiting for us with a glass of wine when we kick down the front doors!"

"No it's not." Shatele said to Alistair, "Wouldn't Loghain have guards? Walls? And most likely be sitting in a room eating ham?"

"You know...that is a good point."

"You wished for my opinion and I gave it."

"Wouldn't it be simpler to just kill Loghain?" Mairon asked again, tightening the cap of a bottle now filled with blood as Gilead and Lily scowled at him.

"Loghain may be a traitor, but our main focus is the darkspawn. What good is it to exact revenge when the enemy is on our doorstep?"

"Again, why don't we just kill him?"

"Because revenge will do us no good at this point." Revan stated to Mairon and pointed to the village as a sign to drop the subject, "In any case, we'll stay here for the day and get supplies and information about what has happened in the past week or so."

"Did I say something wrong?" Shatele asked Alistair as the group pressed on as various refugees nearby marveled at the newcomers to their village.

"Shatele, do you know what sarcasm is?"

"Yes, sarcasm is saying one thing while thinking something..." The young girl's mouth opened when she realized her mistake, "Oh no..."

* * *

><p>"She...wasn't too bright..." The orator admitted as Cassandra stood in front of him.<p>

"Wonder what gave that away?" Varric asked sarcastically, still getting a kick out of this whole situation, "It's really a lack of social skills, but she caught on eventually-"

"Not soon enough according to many," Cassandra pointed out, "At least fast enough to prevent-"

"As impatient as you are, skipping all the way to the 3rd Act will be simply impossible," The Orator interrupted, "So sit down and let me continue."

"Fine." Cassandra stated as she sat down on a stool that she had brought out earlier, "Indulge us then."

"Gladly."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Welcome to the Lothering Arc, what the Wardens will find shouldn't surprise you for the most part, but I've a got few tricks that you might enjoy before they move on.**

**If anyone gets disturbed by the dog's licking blood off of stuff, this is a direct carry over from the game so...yeah...blame Bioware.**


	12. Lothering: Cage in the Refuge

**Lothering, Main Square**

"We'll meet up next to that windmill." "Until then, we split up into smaller groups. That way, it should be harder for any...unfavorable followers to find us all."

"Except for the clothing and armor that clearly distinguishes you from the crowd."

"Exactly." Durin concurred with Gimli for a different reason, "If we tried to adopt their clothing and customs, everyone would spot us do to our failure to blend into this environment. Therefore, the best way to stay hidden is to go forth into the open."

"What? His reasoning is...it makes no sense..."

"He does that."

"I noticed." Morrigan said to Mairon when she saw something in the distance, "What's that board?"

"It's a Chanter's board." Lily answered, "It lists out jobs that the Chantry needs done and then they pay you at least a sovereign for the job."

"Sounds...easy..." Morrigan noted as if dulled, "Perhaps some of us should accomplish these jobs while the rest of us gathers information and supplies from this village."

"Is there an Inn here?" Gilead inquired, "Amongst humans, I hear that inns are places of knowledge trading."

"If you call most of the stuff knowledge, but it can't hurt." Gimli conceded while juggling his silver medallion in one hand as Barkspawn practically begged him to throw it.

"Then I would like to go to this Chantry and Alistair as an ex-templar will accompany me." Durin suggested, "Or rather...I shall accompany him."

"Right...and what about witch-thief?"

"I happen to have a name, stupid boy."

"Hey!"

"I think I'll look for these bears." Revan offered, making Shatele and Rabit worriedly regard his narrowed eyes.

"Me and Gil still have a score to settle, how about we settle it over these bandits?"

"After we go to the inn, care to join us Mairon?" Gilead asked the resident mage, but did not see him present. "Mairon?"

"Where did he go now?"

"Someone call?" Alistair jumped when he noticed the mage behind him as did the rest of the group.

"Stop scaring me like that!" Alistair yelled still frightened from the mage's surprise appearance. Though he was still able to notice something different, "Where did you get that staff?"

"It was in a cart I acquired." Mairon answered as the group noticed the steel-made staff that he tossed to Morrigan and the other assorted goods that was in a bag that he dropped to the ground.

"Where did you get it-"

"From the corpse of that merchant." Mairon pointed to a clearing where a merchant lied slain in the grass as refugees rummaged through his unmanned cart.

"You mean the merchant that we could have bought goods and supplies from?"

"The very same." Mairon answered a very calm Durin.

"Excellent."

"What?" Alistair asked in astonisment, "He murdered a merchant in cold blood!"

"Therefore preventing us from having to spend our limited funds to buy from him."

"Great except that we now have a bloodthirsty mage to barter with instead."

"If this bloodthirsty mage were intelligent," Morrigan began, "He would share the spoils to ensure that he will not face the next darkspawn group alone and without...support..."

"A very valid theory." Mairon agreed, "Except, what does a powerful mage like me have to fear?"

"That platoon of Templars coming to take you away." Alistair brought up, bringing the group's attention to a pack of templars that were walking towards them.

"And?" Mairon shot back to Alistair, "Grey Wardens have little to fear from petty little chantries!"

"Except for these petty little chantries being the single most influential and powerful force in civilized Thedas?"

"I fail to see your point."

"Hold there travelers!" The apparent head of the templars called, "If you are seeking shelter, there's none to be had here."

"Oh I don't know...there are a few decently built houses-"

"We've already taken in more than our limit as is." The templar said cutting off Gimli, "We don't want anymore trouble than we already have so don't amount to our problems."

"It looks like the local templars are in charge around here." Revan observed, also regarding the disturbing lack of village patrols, "Where is the Bann?"

"The Bann and his forces were summoned to Denerem." The templar answered, "At present, Elder Miriam and the Revered Mother are the only authority figures here. We templars are just here to keep the peace and protect the refugees."

"Fitting." Durin agreed while brushing his beard, "I am certain your magic will do these people great service."

"What did he say?" The templar asked as several of his comrades visibly shook and reached for their weapons.

"He hasn't been on the surface for long." Revan said to quell the templar's provoked anger, "Could you take me to Ser Bryant? We came across something of importance to him."

"Alright." The templar stated, "He should be in the chantry, but I'm not sure he'll be in the mood for idle chatter."

"I'm certain he'll have time to learn of a fellow templar's demise..." Alistair mentioned as he brought out the pendent that the group had picked off of the knight, "On top of other matters."

"I thought he was a knight?"

"He was a knight who became a templar...probably..." Alistair answered Shatele before he started mumbling something and he continued with the templar, "In any case, maybe the Revered Mother would be able to offer us assistance."

"Wait...those pendents..." Realizing that their warden's oath pendents were still visible on their necks, the wardens prepared for the worst, "Alright...I knew that some of you made it out alive...either that or the Maker heard my prayers."

"We'll meet by the Windmill." Revan said to the group, "Durin, Alistair, you guys come with me and Morrigan."

"Me and Gilead will hit the local inn and see about any rumors..." Gimli decided and Gilead nodded in agreement, "Or food...then we'll go hunting..."

"We're gonna need some coin for the road..." Lily thought aloud as Revan's group left with the templars, "Shatele and I can look into these jobs."

"Can I come?" Mairon asked like a puppy begging for a treat. Even Barkspawn regarded the spectacle with confusion.

"If you stay on your best behavior..."

"Hurray!" The mage jumped up and down after Shatele's answer, while Barkspawn and Lily gave each other a look that said the same thing.

"The Maker must hate them."

* * *

><p>V: They ended up regretting that, didn't they?<p>

O: Oh in ways that you couldn't imagine...

* * *

><p><strong>Close to the Lothering Chantry<strong>

"Are you serious?" Durin hauntingly laughed at what Alistair had told him, "Those chanters really just stand there and say nothing but their chant for the rest of their lives?"

"They also recite prayers of gratitude and omen depending on who greets them."

"The surface is a strange place..."

"Oh great..." One of the templars escorting the group sighed, "It's him..."

"Is that a Chasind?"

"Is that a chasind? Silly boy..." Morrigan mockingly repeated, much to Alistair's disapproval.

"I was just asking!"

"The Legions of Evil are on our doorsteps!" The Chasind madman professed to a gathering group of frightened villagers, "They will feast on our hearts!"

"He speaks of the darkspawn?"

"Another survivor from Ostagar." A templar grumbled in response to Durin's question, "He's been at it ever since he got here."

"THERE IS NOWHERE TO RUN!" The Chasind shouted while wildly flinging about his arms, "This evil will cover the world, LIKE A PLAGUE OF LOCUST!"

"Please! You're scaring the children!"

"Better to slit their throats now than to let them suffer at Darkspawn hands!" The Chasind said to a villager while pointing out a paled child.

"He has a point there."

"Durin." Revan spoke, "That isn't the point."

"THERE!" The Chasind pointed his finger at Revan as his eyes widened more, "Their minions are already amongst us! This black demon bears their evil! Can you not see the vile blackness that fills this one?"

"Watch where you throw your accusations fool!" Revan shouted back as Durin scratched his beard with a thought that the doomsayer had brought up.

"But isn't he right?" A nearby villager asked, "The bann left us...we're going to die..."

"This minion is but first of many who will destroy us!"

"I believe that he made another comment about-"

"Durin." The dwarf decided that his point was better left unsaid as the Cousland noble stalked up to the doomsayer followed by Rabbit, "Don't be a fool. The darkspawn can be defeated."

"No! I have seen them! You cannot run! You cannot fight!"

"Why can't we run or fight simply because you have seen them?" Durin asked, "Does the presence of a darkspawn imply that our ability to use the motion of our legs to move is invalidated?"

"They well sweep over us-"

"Furthermore, I have witnessed normal soldiers kill a darkspawn." Durin mentioned, "So that would imply the possibility of fighting them, no? Even if there is a chance for defeat, that still doesn't mean we can't fight."

"Besides," Revan came up to the doomsayer's face as the crowd watched with tensed breath, "Standing here and shouting about death and doom won't solve anything."

"There is nothing to do-"

"Then why don't you fall on that axe of yours?" Durin suggested as the the doomsayer looked from threatening face of Revan to an emotionless Durin and pleadingly to Morrigan who was using a spark of magic to clean out her nails, "You just said that it would be better to kill children rather than have them suffer. Why don't you do the same to yourself?"

"We Fereldens will fight on." Revan stated and then turned to address the villagers nearby, "After all, we have fought far worse than darkspawn. Was it not we who fought off the darkspawn of the Second Blight when we were nothing more than divided clans? What of the werewolves when we did unite? Treachery and darkness may paint these times, but Ferelden will fight on. Unlike you."

"Are you...calling me a coward?"

"You speak as a coward, sound as one, and you look like one." Durin said aloud as if asking a stupid question, "Therefore, unlike my companion here who does not look Ferelden, but most certainly is...you are a coward."

"I...have shamed my ancestors..." Hanging his head, the doomsayer walked off, "But the blackness will come..."

"He was right wasn't he? There is no hope..."

"There is always hope! Muster your courage brother!" An encouraged villager declared as he pointed to the heavens, "Didn't you hear what the Grey Warden said? We've faced worse than these darkspawn! So we can't give up now!"

"Let's go..." The templar suggested to the wardens as the crowd gathered around their encouraged, "Thanks for shutting him up."

"Our pleasure..." Revan nodded his head as the group moved on.

"But we can't fight...There's too few of us..."

"Well we can't lie down and die either!" The new group sayer shouted, "I'm going north to Denerem! Who's with me?"

"Aye!"

"Looks like you've inspired the local townsfolk." Alistair observed as he watched the encouraged villagers parade out of the chantry grounds singing a song about fighting the power, "I wish them the best of luck."

"Let's hope they last the night." Morrigan chuckled, "Oh who are we kidding? Of course they won't!"

"I say turn her in to the templars." Alistair whispered to Revan, "We might get a reward, get rid of her and she might die when the darkspawn arrive..."

"Perhaps you should work on your whispering skills." Durin suggested as the group came closer to the Chantry entrance, "And take his lack of response as a no."

"Figured."

* * *

><p><strong>Lothering Market Square<strong>

"Huan? What does that mean?"

"In the ancient tongue of my people, it means great hound." Gilead answered the curious Shatele, "Huan was the hound of the gods, who chose to stay with us during a dark war with the forgotten ones..."

"Who are the forgotten ones?"

"I cannot say." The dalish seeker answered the intrigued Shatele, "Much of our history remains lost. You would honor our people greatly by naming your hound thus."

"Our people?" Lily asked as though she did not want to be part of the conversation, "To be fair, Huan does sound like a better thought out name than Barkspawn. What do you say?"

"Personally, I don't think he'd mind either name." Gimli figured while Barkspawn started chewing on a bone that he'd pulled from out of a blanket, "Why not call him, Huan the Barkspawn?"

"It's decided." Lily stated as Huan barked in agreement, "Glad you agree."

"Oh the irony..." Gilead said out loud, "An elven woman proudly naming a symbol of human supremacy."

"Mabari or not, he's still just a dog." Lily said, "Don't the Dalish have dogs or do you tame wolves instead?"

"Not as pets, but partners." Gilead corrected, "We do not keep them groomed and clean to show off to our rivals as a sign of supremacy."

"Rabbit hunts with us all of the time." Shatele brought up, "We even gave him his own room, but he got lonely so I moved in with him."

"I take it that's not usual amongst humans."

"Depends on the master, some treat their hounds worse than us elves." Lily replied to Gimli and narrowed her eyes under a judgemental glance, "What?"

"You seem awfully comfortable about speaking of your oppressors." Gilead noted as if disappointed, "Too comfortable."

"What the hell are you hinting at?"

"Perhaps you are used to the hands of humans pawing at you, like a rabbit that does not attempt to hide from the pursuing hawk."

"Excuse me?"

"You understood the metaphor." Gilead sarcastically congratulated, "There is hope for you yet my estranged sister."

"Lily?" Shatele waved her hand in front of a stilled and fuming Tabris, "Are you alright?"

"I. Will. Collect. Every. Knife. That. I. See."

"Why?"

"So that I'll have something to throw at all of these men."

"My advice lass, shake your head and keep going."

"Okay." Shatele said as Gimli ran after Gilead, "Oh look! Barkspawn found something!"

"Cake." Lily held the slumber covered half-eaten cake in her hands and looked at the happy Barkspawn, "If only you had balanced it on your head instead of holding it in your mouth..."

"Silly Lily! He'd have to lift it with his paws and paws can't lift things."

"I know." Lily whined as Barkspawn pawed at her knees as if to try and give her an assuring pat, "Where did Mairon go?"

* * *

><p><strong>Edge of the Lothering Fields<strong>

"Have you seen my mother?"

"Your mother..." Mairon thought as the little boy waited for his answer, "How did you lose her?"

"We was at home making dinner." The boy explained "But then some nasty bandits came and mother told me to run so I did. She said she'd be right behind me, but I haven't seen her for days-"

"Well..." Mairon put the pieces together and it didn't take long for him to realize this poor boy's dilemna, "There isn't an easy way to say this so I will just say it."

"Say what? Mother wouldn't just leave me-"

"She's dead." Mairon blunted stated, "Her corpse is probably somewhere in this field, want to find it?" The boy burst out crying and ran away from the mage as he signed and waved.

"Last time that I try to do you a favor." The mage stated when he noticed a very attractive sight near a crop of uncollected corn "And hello...what have we here..."

"Get your hands off of me!" The attractive sight which was a young woman with black hair said to a bandit that was holding her wrist. When he didn't let go, her eyes briefly glowed before Mairon sensed a distortion of magic surge out and knock the bandit to the ground dazed.

"Hot and dangerous..." Mairon observed as the woman brought out a staff and looked from bandit to bandit as the group started to enclose around her, "Nice combination...maybe I can add to it..."

With that Mairon threw out both hands and fired two bolts of arcane energy that struck and knocked down the bandits closest to the mage as she fired a ball of energy from her staff that engulfed three others before slashing the blade of her staff through the last two in what Mairon observed to be a beautiful dance of grace.

"Damn bandits." The mage replied as Mairon marveled at how little she really needed his help, "Thank you for the help."

"I was just strolling through and I saw you." Mairon answered still impressed by her magical skill and attracted to her all the more, "I assume this wasn't the only band?"

"There are two others...they prey off of refugees for quick profit." The woman explained as she wiped the blade of her staff onto the grass, "And more of them are springing up all over the area with the Blight and all."

"Yes, a time of opportunity for some and deprivation for others." Mairon answered while gaining a quick eyefull of the girl's assets before she stood up, "You are?"

"Bethany." The girl answered with the voice of an angel, "Bethany Hawke."

"Bethany Hawke." Mairon nodded until he recalled meeting someone in Ostagar with the same surname.

And knew now that the Maker hated him.

_"The name's Galian, but everyone calls me Hawke." The badass mage introduced when Mairon and Gilead made it over to where he had finished destroying a large platoon of darkspawn by himself._

_"Mairon Amell, but everyone remembers Mairon."_

_"Amell? My mother's an Amell."_

_"Interesting." Mairon admitted, remarking on how much more buff and muscular Mairon was than the average mage, and the fact that his staff looked more like a sword-staff than the traditional staves most mages used._

_"Like a big family reunion!"_

"Sir?"

"Do you have a brother?"

"Why yes. Two, Carver and Galian, but they went to Ostagar and haven't returned."

_"The name's Galian, but everyone calls me Hawke."_

_"Amell? My mother's an Amell."_

_"Like a big family reunion!"_

_"My mother's an Amell."_

_"Big family reunion!"_

_"Family reunion!"_

_"**FA-MI-LY RE-U-NION**!"_

"DAMN!" His scream went forth throughout the area and even made a crack in the sky. But the mage calmed himself and readdressed Bethany, "Sorry...I just had a nice picture-framed dream shattered by a connection of realizations."

"What?"

"I'm Mairon!" Mairon yelled and reached out a hand as he calmed down and held back the tears from his shattered dream, "Former Circle Mage and Current Grey Warden."

"Oh my..." Bethany said in a way that made being a Grey Warden and a non-circle mage sound like a terrible thing.

Which it wasn't!

"Is there something that I should know?" Mairon asked his cousin to be polite and noticed something coming towards him, "Maybe something to do with those refugees coming our way?"

"Well..." Bethany stopped for while as if looking for a way to phrase her answer, "Grey Wardens aren't exactly popular after Ostagar."

"Let me take of this." Mairon assured Bethany and walked out to the refugees, "Countrymen! My fair countrymen! Why do you come forth to me with such eyes of hatred and despair? Are we not united in our struggle against the evil of the Blight-"

"Save it sir..." A villager shouted at the same time that a crossbow shot close to Mairon's feet, "Maybe you didn't betray the King...maybe you Grey Wardens are all in the right...but Maker help me...I don't care...and neither do they!"

"What qualifies you to speak for them?" The rest of the crowd grumbled and brought out their weapons as they chanted for the grey warden's blood, "Pitchforks...knives...sticks...and one or two swords...so you really want to kill me and collect some kind of bounty on my head? No?"

"That's the plan sir." The villager answered, but became more reluctant when the other mage stood beside Mairon, "Bethany...you owe this town. Don't do this."

"What can I say? We mages have to stick together, I owe him anyway."

"Fine!" The villager shouted, "We'll get the bounty for the warden and for an apostate!"

"Apostate?"

"Long story..."

"This won't take long."

* * *

><p><strong>Dane's Refuge<strong>

"Did you just hear something? It sounded like the crushed fantasy of an uncaged mage."

"Probably a groan from this typical human bar..." Gimli whistled as he and the dalish elf entered the establishment that had probably seen better days, "A lot more crowded than usual though..."

"These are refugees." Gilead observed, "Denizens escaping the Blight and seeking shelter wherever they can."

"And we don't have anymore room." The bartender said to the newcomers, "So if your looking for shelter, go to the Chantry."

"We're not looking for shelter." Gimli said to the bartender as he set a modest sum of coins on the counter, "How much info will this buy?"

"As much as I can give." The bartender replied, "What do you want to know, travelers?"

"What news has gone around Ferelden since the battle of Ostagar?"

"Hard choice...but a deal's a deal..." The bartender pocketed the coin as he started thinking, "Apart from the king dead and the grey wardens labeled as traitors by Teryn Loghain...nothing much."

"The Grey Wardens as traitors?" Gimli kept a casual face while Gilead's face hardened at this news, "I'm kind of new to the surface friend, but aren't the wardens fighting the blight?"

"I'm just relaying what I heard friend." The bartender replied, "Frankly, it doesn't make sense to me or a lot of folks. But now the Teryn's declared himself regent and put out a bounty on the wardens or any collaborators."

"And no questioning him?" Gilead nearly demanded, "What about this nation's queen?"

"If I recall, folk say she's the one who supported him." The bartender continued, likely a bit tipsy for why he didn't notice Gilead's race, "But a lot of the nobles didn't like the idea and now there's talk of a Civil War."

"Our jobs just got easier..." Gimli sarcastically muttered as Gilead nodded in agreement.

"Barkeep!" The voice of a wasted patron shouted from Gimli's left, "Give me another one!"

"For the last time! My name isn't barkeep!"

"What's your name then?"

"Oh I don't...maybe could ASK ME MY SODDIN NAME!"

"Nah...just get me another one..."

"That's enough from you!" The bartender stomped over and snatched away the drunken dwarf's empty mug, "You'll drink the whole inn dry at this rate!"

"I ain't even tipsy yet!" The red haired dwarf yelled before he burped, "Yah call this ale? His momma's titties are probably better than this piss!"

"That's it!" An armored man stood up from his seat while his fellows tried to keep him settled, "This dwarf is pissing me off?"

"We're here for Grey Wardens." The man's friend said out-loud, gaining Gimli and Gilead's attention, "Not little men too drunk and pathetic to lift an axe-" Just then, the pummel of a drawn axe smacked into the man's stomach and knocked him into the table.

"Sorry...I didn't catch that last part..." The dwarf mumbled while holding his axe, "Yah wanna insult me...say it to my face thunder-humper..."

"What does that even mean?" The soldier asked in utter confusion and anger while he and his companions drew their blades, "We are messengers of Teryn Loghain and will not be assaulted by a drunk like you!"

"What about that table then..." The dwarf pointed to the knocked over table that had been broken by the weight of the still dizzy messenger, "Ain't that an assault...or do yah want ol'Oghren ta give ya a spankin?"

"Kill him?" The messengers asked their ticked leader.

"Kill him!"

"Friends..." Gimli asked while holding a mug in one hand and Kalah in the other, "Why can't we settle this over a pint?"

"A pint...nah!" The dwarf yelled, "These surface runts would melt from an quart!"

"Probably." Gimli agreed with the dwarf who he now recognized, "Sides, I hear you boys don't like Grey Wardens too much."

"What's it to you?" One of Loghain's men asked before he saw the pendent on the dwarf's jacket, "Wait...you're one of them? You're a Grey Warden!"

"Wanna guess your prize?" Before the man could make another action, an arrow from Gilead shot into his skull and caused him to collapse to the floor, "Arrow to the head. Oh and elf, the score's still in my favor."

"Not for long."

"One for one more?" The dwarf warrior asked while drawing his axe as several patrons revealed themselves to be amongst the Teryn's men.

And a red-haired sister emerged from a side room...

* * *

><p><strong>Edge of Lothering Refugee Camp<br>**

"I think that was Mairon."

"Is he in trouble?"

"If he is, he can probably take care of himself." Lily half-heartedly assured Shatele, which told the girl that Tabris didn't really care to start with, "That must be Elder Miriam, let's see if she knows anything about these bandits."

"Alright." Shatele agreed as the two ladies walked over to where an old woman was overlooking some sick refugees.

"You got a bed for the night? You taken care of?" The woman asked before coughing.

"Looks like we could help you..." Lily gently said to the old woman, "Are you well?"

"Such nice young ladies keeping watch on an old woman like me..."

"Why not? Aren't the young supposed to watch for the old so that the old can teach us?"

"That's the way it's supposed to be...but nowadays..." Shatele's smile wavered as Miriam shakingly brought out an empty flask, "We've had problems keeping up supply with poultrices for the injured and sick..."

"Move it!" A Chasind warrior bumped into Lily as he walked by, knocking her onto her bottom.

"Watch it shemlan!"

"Piss off elf!" A savage bark caused the warrior to freeze and he realized that a very angry mabari was growling at him. The man bolted while dropping his greatsword with Huan on his heels like a hound out of hell.

"It's alright...he's just scaring him..." Lily assured Shatele and Miriam as she stood up holding something to her side, "How many do you need ma'am?"

"At the moment...only about three-"

"How about four?" Lily asked, holding up two health poultrices in each hand to the shock and amazement of Shatele and Miriam.

"How did you-" Lily cocked her head in a way to tell the noble to be quiet, so Shatele decided to do something else, "I have three!"

"And our dog...has two..." Lily pointed out as Huan the Barkspawn ran back with two poultrices in his mouth and a breastplate on top of his back, "I'd recommend cleaning them first..."

"Maker's breath..." Miriam breathed heavily as she took the poultrices, "Thank you kind lasses...so much...Leandra!"

"What is it Miriam?" A middle aged woman who looked to be in her late forties asked when she came over, "Where did you get those?"

"From the nice young ladies here." Miriam answered, "And their handsome mabari."

"Maker's blessing on both of you." Leandra said as she reached into her pocket and placed a sovereign in each of the girl's hands, "Here...I wish we could give more...but, we are strained of late."

"We'll take what you can give." Lily replied as she pocketed the coin, "We're also looking for a group of bandits."

"Bandits?"

"Yeah, there's supposed to be three roaming around here." Lily said to the worried elder, "Probably worth a sovereign or two according to the board."

"Just like Bethany...Maker's mercy..." Leandra signed as though she were tired of something similar to this, "If you're really going after them, then I'd suggest doing so with more than the two...three of you...I hear that they're scattered out in the fields...likely to prey on anyone who tries to flee north."

"Small fry...just like in the Denerem alleys." Lily confidently boasted, "Thank you ma'am and Maker's blessing, come on Shatele."

"Alright. Good bye!" Shatele waved to the two older women as they walked past the camp and Shatele noticed something by the fence, "Hey, what's that over there?"

"It's a cage with..." Lily stopped in her tracks when she saw what was in the cage, "No way..."

"What?"

"A Kossith..." Lily answered, "The dominant race of the Qunari in the north."

"Oh...I heard brother and Aldous talk about it...once..." A bad memory began to surface so Shatele shifted her focus back to the giant in the cage that they were walking closer to, "But what is the Qun that Qunari are part of it? And where are his qunari horns?"

"_Shok ebasit hissra. Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun. Maraas shokra. Anaan esaam Qun."_ Shatele heard Lily say,_ "Struggle is an illusion. The tide rises, the tide falls, but the sea is changeless. There is nothing to struggle against. Victory is in the Qun."  
><em>

"How uncommon..." The surprised women jumped in alarm when they heard the seated giant speak, "To hear the words of the Qun spoken by an elf."

"You think we can't read?"

"No," The Kossith answered without motion from his hard face, "Most of your kind tend to accept whatever your human masters give them."

"And I'm leaving now." Lily threw up her arms and left for the fields, "Enjoy rotting to death."

"Follow your elf, girl." The kossith advised Shatele as he sat down in his cage, "I will not stand here as part of your amusement. Leave me in peace."

"Sorry about my friend..." Shatele apologized, feeling uneasy about leaving this man alone. He was stern and hard, but he didn't seem like a bad person, "She doesn't like it when people insult elves, especially the ones in the city."

"That is not my concern." The qunari answered, "I was merely stating the truth of my surprise. I have simply rarely encountered an elf outside of the Qun who knowingly spoke it's words."

"I suppose that I could understand that." Shatele accepted, "What is the Qun?"

"It is a wonder that your elf even knew what she did with your intellect."

"She isn't my elf." Shatele corrected with a stern voice, "She is a friend and not a slave."

"I see. So not all elves live in bondage or poverty in this land. Fascinating."

"Are you alright?"

"I am in a cage condemned by your Chantry to die of starvation or the darkspawn." The qunari answered, "I am Sten of the Beresaad, the Vanguard of the Qunari peoples.

"So no?"

"Your powers of observation are astounding."

"Would you want to get out of the cage?" Shatele asked becoming concerned when she noticed untended marks on the large giant's body, "It would probably be healthier for you too."

"I appreciate the sentiment and your concern..." Sten admitted, "But my placement here is just."

"How long have you been in there? It looks like it was a long time..."

"Twenty days now...I likely won't last the week..." The qunari stated casually as though he was not scared of starvation or worse, "As I deserve.

"Why? Did you kill someone?"

"Does it matter?" Shatele knew the answer because of the giant's counter-question, "However I feel, whatever I did, my life is forfeit now."

"So you did kill someone..."

"Yes." Sten answered coldly, "Two families of farmers who had taken me in after I was left for dead."

"That's horrid. Why did you kill them?"

"Does it matter?" Shatele wanted to shout yes, but somehow she knew that it would do nothing. Besides, this man didn't seem proud of what he did, "I murdered them, now I am paying the price for my actions."

"You don't seem very sorry for what you did..."

"Either you have an enviable memory, or a pitiable life, to know nothing of regret."

"I know...about regret..." Shatele answered as she turned away from the cage suddenly seeing flashes of that night in Highever, "Alright, I won't bother you. Though it is cruel for the chantry to leave you out here...Duncan said that there were a lot of murderers in the Wardens. I think Lily and Gimli were murderers, but they killed bad people and against the Blight-"

"The Blight?" The giant stood back up and grabbed the bars of his cage, "Are you a Grey Warden?"

"No." Shatele answered as she turned back, "But my brother, Lily and his friends are."

"You travel in the company of Grey Wardens?"

"I don't have anywhere else to go." The girl admitted, "Maybe you could be a Grey Warden! Or at least help us!"

"You have to find the key for this door."

"What door?"

"The door to the cage or are you blind?"

"No. I see you just fine." Shatele giggled, "All I see are a bunch of bars though."

"That is the door."

"Are you sure?" The girl grabbed the bars in front of the giant and felt to see that it was a large doorway of bars, "It's not very sturdy for one...and...oh my..." She nearly fell to the side while clutching the cage bars, specifically the ones that were supposed to be the door to the cage.

"Then it is done." Sten exhaled after he stepped out of the open cage. "Who leads the Wardens?"

"My brother is about the closest to a leader." Shatele answered after dropping the cage door, "Or Alistair but...he doesn't want to."

"A leader who does not wish to lead is not a leader." As harsh as he was, the qunari may have been right, "Take me to your brother."

"As soon as we find Lily. Oh look! Her and Huan the Barkspawn are coming over here!"

"No..." Lily said in disbelief when she walked over to Lady Cousland and the freed qunari, "Why did you let him out?"

"He's looking for Grey Wardens." Shatele answered, "Apparently he wants to help fight the blight."

"You do know what a Qunari is, right?" Lily asked, still stunned to see a standing and walking qunari, "The warrior race that wants to invade all of Thedas? And you want to keep one of them as a companion?"

"Are you a Grey Warden elf?"

"Yeah and the name's Lily." Lily answered Sten, "If you wanna join, then I'll have to warn you-"

"That's a secret Lily!" Shatele shouted, besides the qunari only wanted to help the wardens not become one, "What she means is that we'll meet up with my brother when we find some bandits and kill them."

"And I am to assist in this?" The two ladies nodded their heads as Huan ran off with a bark, "Very well...though I will be of more use to you with a weapon."

"Huan?" Lily asked when the mabari returned carrying the sword and armor of that Chasind from earlier, "How did you get all of that off of him?"

"Mabari are smart." Shatele answered, "Sometimes Rabbit helps me undress when I fall asleep on my own."

"Why?"

"It's a lot more comfortable to sleep without clothes." Shatele answered a shocked Lily and a deadpan Sten, "The air flows through my mind better that way and I'm more likely to dream about riding a griffon."

"Parshaara..." Sten slowly placed his hand upon his forehead while Huan did the same with his paw, "Perhaps I should return to my penance, the cage does not seem so bad now."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Sten joins the Party! Will his initial impression of the wardens allow him to aid them in their quest to defeat the blight? And why is everyone's favorite drunken dwarf in Lothering? Will the Chantry answer Alistair's prayers and take away Morrigan or will the Teryn's apparent decree cause them to become an obstacle to the fledgling wardens?**

**Whatever the answers may be, they won't be hard to find out.**

**So I looked around for statements by David Gaider, Dragon Age's lead writer and it turns out that Templar abilities are an off-shoot branch of magic! The only difference is that most require lyrium to keep up the usage of these abilities with the exception of people like Alistair who can still use their abilities with ease despite having been taken out of the Templars for close to a year...**

**Wonder if that has something to do with his mother?  
><strong>


	13. Lothering: Chant of Song and Drink

**Lothering Fields**

"Such un-orderly business." Mairon admitted boredly as wrenched his hand out of the face out of a villager and was quite pleased with himself at the hole that his arcane bolt had left before searing through the two men behind his victim.

"Sometimes the Maker wills it." Bethany signed reluctantly as she threw her lance onto her back, "So what's your story cousin?"

"Well..." Mairon thought for a moment amidst the dead villagers as though unbothered by the scenery, "Where do you want me to start? Shall we start from when I left Kirkwall due to deathly events that I had nothing whatsoever to do with? When I was recruited from the Circle Tower into the Wardens? Or how about we start with Ostagar?"

"Uh...Whatever you feel like."

"Very well." Mairon followed Bethany away from the corpses of the mob, "You see, I was under the mentorship of First Enchanter Irving and Senior Enchanter Profion..."

"They had interest in you it seems."

"I have that effect on people sometimes." Mairon replied, "Anyway...a little while ago I passed the secret ritual of passage in the Circle mages.

"I see-"

"Where they kicked me into the Fade and told me to fight a few demons." Bethany's eyes were widened by this confession as Mairon chuckled, "A reasonable reaction, I knew that there was a reason that it was kept a secret."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"For most others. I apparently passed in record time, an hour at most. If you take too long on your test then a nearby templar kills you. The demon can also overpower and possess you if you're aren't strong enough."

"I see..." Bethany looked down at the ground thoughtfully, "So that's why...all this time."

"Pardon? Oh shiny!" Mairon ran over to wear a medallion sparkled on the ground, but was startled because it was attached to female corpse that had been dead for a while, "Oh! Least we know where that boy's mother is."

"My family is...kind of filled with magic."

"I figured since we're..." Mairon exhaled in disappointment at a lost opportunity, "Related and all...so how come you and your brother aren't in the Circle?"

"Our parents, my father was a rogue mage from the Kirkwall Circle." His newly discovered cousin explained, "He fled Kirkwall with mother and came to Ferelden. Eventually, they settled in Kirkwall and father taught me and Galian everything that he knew about magic."

"Oh?" Mairon was now intrigued about this now deceased mage, "Did he happen to compile this in some kind of tome?"

"He might have." Bethany answered, "It's not something that I'm supposed to give out to just anyone though. But...you are family and you did help me out back there."

"Even though you just..."

"You alright?"

"Just fine." Mairon answered, grateful that she didn't catch on to what he knew, "Did you hear that?"

"Wolves..."

"And bears..." The mage warden answered, but he only cared about one thing at that moment, "So...how is Aunt Leandra?"

* * *

><p><strong>Lothering Chantry<strong>

"We'll do what we can." The wardens heard a templar say to his comrade as they entered, "As long as a single person is here, we will hold the line."

"What line?" The templar asked, "Everyone else is running north to the war!"

"Then I guess we're the line." The templar captain said to his fellow before he noticed the wardens.

"Where have I heard that before?"

"It's a stock motivational amongst captains." Revan said to Durin, "Are you Ser. Bryant?"

"Correct and you are the Grey Wardens." The templar captain walked over and shook the hands of each warden, "Thank the Maker, I thought all of you died at Ostagar..."

"If not for the Maker's grace, that would be the case."

"But the Maker didn't save us-"

"Yes, thank the Maker indeed." Alistair added with his hand over Durin's "We don't want another fight right now, alright?"

"If you are here for shelter, I'm afraid that we have taken in more than we can hold."

"We are not here for shelter." Revan stated, "We'll be leaving for Lake Calenhad soon, we need only information and any other aid that you can offer."

"News..."

"So it's true." Alistair said, noting the unhappy look in Bryant's face, "Loghain did put a bounty on any surviving grey wardens."

"I am afraid that it is." Bryant reported as Revan growled in silent frustration, "Loghain claims that the Grey Wardens were working with Orleis to overthrow the king and caused his death at Ostagar."

"Wha...What?"

"Those aren't his exact words." The templar said to Revan, "But, he has strengthened the defense on the border and turned back a group of Caveliers who were sent to fight the Blight.

"Pardon?" Alistair asked in shock, remembering well that those caveliers were supposed to have Grey Warden reinforcements with them, "And what has the Teryn done against the Blight?"

"He's declared himself regent." Bryant answered, "But the Landsmeet doesn't seem to keen on following him and there's talk of a Civil War brewing."

"You alright?"

"I see..." Revan fumed as Durin decided not to press the man any further on the matter, "Where is the Bann?"

"Called north to Denerem by Loghain." Bryant stated, "Loghain and the new Teryn are amassing against attacks from the Landsmeet."

"Wait..." Revan's eye twitched when he heard a term in the man's sentence, "What new teryn?"

"Loghain appointed Rendon Howe as arl of Denerem and Teryn of Highever after Teryn Bryce and the Couslands were murdered by assassins."

"King Calenhad is screaming in his grave..." Revan growled when suddenly a crash was heard in one of the side rooms in the Chantry followed by a loud feral roar, "Oh look! A bear just burst through the wall. No worries! I kill it!"

"Revan, we should really-" Before Alistair could finish, the Cousland Scion had drawn his swords and dashed off towards the roars, "He needs to lash out at something..."

"Come to think of it...I think that's the bear that the chanters were after!" Bryant realized as panicked refugees and confused templars listened to a very savage battle as Rabbit ran off to join the fight, "Maker's breath...how did that thing get in here?"

"It burst through the wall from observation." Durin noted as the fighting continued and yet no one had any wish to join in, "Not that it's a problem now."

"Pardon me, I just needed to work through some anger." Revan said as he returned with Rabbit, bloodied but standing tall and much more calm, "Loghain is regent and there is a civil war now..."

"Bann Teagan is one of the nobles leading it." Bryant said as he saw a group of wounded templars drag a large blighted bear corpse out of the chantry, "I'm surprised that we've heard nothing more from Redcliffe, but given the what Ser Donnell said..."

"Said about what?"

"The Arl has fallen ill and knights have been sent out." Bryant said to a now worried Alistair, "Last I checked, they were looking for the Urn of Sacred Ashes to heal Eamon...but it all sounds like nonsense to me...nonsense so that the civil war can have a stronger leader..."

"You do not care who becomes ruler I assume?"

"Only fools argue over the house as it burns." Bryant bitterly said to Durin as the dwarf nodded.

"Tell that to the fools when they have swords."

"One wonder if it were better to let them burn with the house and save all others the trouble."

"I would agree with the witch."

"Witch?"

"Oh that's right," Durin said to the templar, "You're magic knights who guard against mages outside of your circle."

"What?"

"Don't mind him." Alistair assured before whispering to Durin, "This is not the time to be picking a fight..."

"I'm not picking a fight." Durin said out loud, "I was beginning to point out the irony of a magic knight hunting others with magic out of paranoia."

"Well try not to do that inside of their chantry!"

"Keep it down you two," Revan said to his fellow wardens, "Is the Holy Mother available?"

"Of course...even though..."

"It is, though I doubt that the reasoning for it is valid considering this blight." Ser Bryant spoke, "In any case, my charge is to defend this town while people remain here."

"Then why not make them leave?"

"It seems simple," Bryant answered the dwarf, "Except that we would need to prepare provisions that we don't have, guards defend against looters since the bann took all of his troops, provide for the sick and elderly-"

"And this is stopping you from physically leaving this town and going to one that is not in the direct path of the ravenous, blood thirsty darkspawn?" Durin retorted, "No wonder your magic only works on mages."

"How dare he-"

"If you want to fight a grey warden on holy ground..." Bryant warned his fellow templar, "Forgive him, he...lost some friends a few days ago."

"I recently witnessed the death of my brother and we wardens have practically lost our whole order, so what?" Alistair slapped his face at Durin's lack of subtlety, "Granted that I'm not personally grieving for them, but the outlook on fighting this blight would be more positive if there were more than seven wardens in the vicinity."

"What my friend means is that we sympathize." Revan cut in, "Is there any aid that you and the Holy Mother can grant us?"

"Well..." Bryant pondered, "We have some supplies in the cabinets that you can use...and then there's the matter of the prisoner."

"What prisoner?"

"A few days ago, a qunari was found in a farm." The templar explained, "He confessed to murdering the villagers, so we had him imprisoned just outside of the village. Personally, I say it's a waste...and cruel one at that...even for a qunari."

"Qunari?" Durin asked the others, "What is a qunari?"

"A giant from the north." Revan explained, "A race of horned warriors who once waged war against all of Thedas to conquer it...why one is here so far from Seheron though..."

"You're quite a ways from home yourself sir."

"What do you mean?" The Cousland Scion asked, "Highever isn't that far away."

"Aren't you from Rivain-" Nudged by Ser Bryant, the templar bowed his head, "Sorry sir."

"In any case, you are Grey Wardens no?" Bryant inquired, "If you're intending to fight against the blight, you could persuade the Holy Mother to allow his release into your custody."

"And why should we ask for this woman's permission?"

"Watch your mouth!"

"She has a point." Durin agreed with Morrigan, "We are Grey Wardens, an order of warriors sworn to fight against the Blight with rights that allow us to supercede organizations of authority when needed. Seeing as that we are in the middle of a Blight, we should not have to ask permission to recruit a prisoner into our ranks."

"And what makes you say that, Master Dwarf?"

"The name's Durin Aeducan." Durin said to the templar, "And I saw that, because half of our number consists of murderers directly conscripted into the Warden ranks. One of whom had murdered a noble's son."

"Wait..." The templar in the back thought out loud, "You mean Arl Urien's son? Thank the Maker!"

"Regardless of his character," Revan rebuked though he felt the words lash against his heart as he did, "His murder is no more justified than any others."

"You never met him!" The templar shouted, "The only reason Urien let him get away with the stuff he did was because he was the old man's only son and heir. Whether he like elves or not, the stuff he did to them was...ghastly...especially when he hung out with Howe's son."

"Thomas Howe?"

"Yeah..." Revan narrowed his eyes at the young templar took off his helm to reveal a missing ear, "One time, an elf woman and her sister, barely fifteen, had claimed sanctuary at the Denerem Chantry till they got in contact with friends and relatives at the alienage. They were harmless so I let them and went out for a rest. When I came back...Vaghan and his group were...having their way with that poor girl and making the older sister watch. It was...sick...and there were too many of them for me to do anything directly..."

"It wasn't your duty anyway."

"Durin."

"Your charge to defend the people is apparently only valid when others aren't available." Durin continued despite Alistair's stare, "Your primary task is to guard the chantries, the mages and root out rogues. Since this Vaghen presented no threat to the Chantry, I see no reason for your guilt."

"I didn't just leave him there." The young man followed up, "I called up some of the other templars and had him brought to the authorities. But...he was out smiling and giddy the next day...I even heard he went back to that poor girl and played with her until she...died..."

"This man would've been right at home with mother."

"What? Am I supposed to be surprised?"

"I would expect you to pity the poor man." Morrigan said to a now chilled Alistair, "My mother...never has...many guests...and this Vaghan would have been...entertaining."

"Nevermind."

"That's..." Revan began as he took in everything that this templar had said about Vaughen, "I never knew about that..."

"No worries my lord, Urien had his way of keeping his son happy." The templar said, "But...at least the bastard got what he deserved before I was transferred here to Lothering."

"It is not our place to exact vengeance." Bryant rebuked, "Nor is it right for us to wish death upon our fellow man...even if...it seems he deserves it."

"What of the assassins who murdered the Couslands?"

"The Maker will not allow their crime to go unpunished." The templar commander said to the Warden, "It is important that one does not become a monster in hunting monsters."

"That is true, thank you good sir." Revan said cooly, "By the way, we met a group of bandits on the way here..."

"You killed them?"

"Bloodily."

"Clever choice of words."

"More like literal."

"I suppose, we owe you our thanks..." Bryant said to the wardens as he brought out a small pouch, "Please accept this as a small token of our-"

"No, accept this and take it to the Tithe box."

"Five sovereigns?" The templar said in shock after the Cousland scion gave him five coins, also stunning Durin and annoying Morrigan, "Considering the Blight's path, surely you wouldn't think of placing it in another Chantry..."

"The life of a Grey Warden demands sacrifice." Revan explained as Rabbit barked in agreement, "There might not be a next time."

"And why are you giving away money that could be used for our sacrifice?" Durin asked in confusion as Alistair nudged the dwarf on his head, "Nevermind...bloody surface superstitious religion."

"As though worshipping dead ancestors is any different."

"It's completely different!" Durin said to the templar, "Our ancestors live on through their achievements and live within the stone. Unlike your Maker, who seems fit to abandon his creations on a whim."

"He's new to the surface, don't mind him."

"I'm trying." Bryant admitted as Morrigan laughed in amusement. Apparently, she approved.

* * *

><p><strong>Dane's Refuge<strong>

"You needn't bother sister."

"But you are being wronged." The red haired Chantry sister said as she stood back to back with Gilead as they faced off with Loghain's agents, "The Maker frowns on those who see wrongdoing and do nothing against it."

"Works for me." Gimli said from behind the bartender's counter. He splashed a glass of rum onto the face of a soldier to blind him long enough for the dwarf to chop his hand axe into his neck. The dwarf then ducked under arrow fire and shot through the counter to hit the offending soldier in his stomach.

Oghren happily danced in a drunken frenzy, taking hits as though they were pebbles and dealing back retaliation like a hurricane. Three soldiers were already dead before a fourth tried his luck with the dwarven warrior. Oghren laughed as he dropped his axe and kneed the soldier in his crouch. The soldier stumbled to his knees and fell to the floor silent and limp.

For Gilead, it was difficult to aim in this small in crowded bar. He only managed to hit two soldiers on the second level railing before being forced into melee combat. Thankfully, the Chantry sister sang a song as he fought that encouraged him with it's upbeat and uplifting tempo. When the song was ended, Gileads long knives had claimed two more soldiers while three others lied dead behind him. The sister said a silent prayer as the group confronted the last of Loghain's men.

"Should've stayed out of it..." Oghren complained, "That fight was too quick..."

"Please!" A remaining soldier begged with his back to a pillar with one hand desperately attempting to yank out an arrow in his knee, "We yield..."

"We?" Gimli asked after counting out, "You're the only one left friend."

"One's the loneliest number." Oghren chuckled, "Want Ol'Oghren to fix that for ya?"

"I can pay you!" The soldier cried, "Please...don't kill me..."

"Say a prayer for this fool sister."

"Will you not even consider mercy?" The Chantry sister stood in front of Gilead before the elf took his shoot, "This man has admitted his fault and paid the consequences, what good will come from killing him?"

"He won't tell his boss about where we are."

"A starting portion of reparations for the betrayal at Ostagar."

"A head rolls, I'm happy."

"Are you not men..." The woman chatised the wardens and dwarf, who all lowered their weapons in collective confusion at her words, "What I mean is, are you not decent folk and not savages who murder on a whim-"

"Don't move!" The soldier cried would holding a bloody arrow to the woman's neck after grabbing her, "Or the woman dies!"

"And?"

"What?"

"You've put yourself into a bad situation." Gimli pointed out, "Do you really think that anyone in this bar will let you walk out alive after you've threatened a holy woman with injury and death?"

"In other words, here's how this will go." Gilead stated as he re-aimed his bow, "You let the woman go and we'll consider letting you live or you can hold on to the woman and get to chose which one of these dozens of people will get to kill you. Your choice."

"Stay back!" The man cried to the wardens as he noticed several refugees stand up with sticks or broken bottles, "All of you! I will kill her!"

"Draw your last breath, my friends..." The woman closed her eyes as one of her hands slipped into her sleeve, "Cross the Veil and the Fade and all the stars in the sky." As the warden's watched, the woman elbowed the soldier in the gut to stun him and quietly stabbed a tiny knife into his neck.

"Rest at the Maker's right hand." The woman whispered in the man's ear as he fell limply backwards, "And be Forgiven."

"That was messy."

"Just the way I like it." Oghren said to Gimli, "Thought your type would be used to messy."

"Very funny. Great to see you too Oghren."

"Who says that I'm glad to see ya?" The dwarven warrior said as he punched Brosca's shoulder, "What are ya doing here Gimli?"

"I'm a Grey Warden trying to help these damn surfacers and they're not really grateful either."

"Join the club." Oghren spat, "Sounds like the nobles up here are worse than the ones in Orzammar."

"So your nobles would rather strike each other than unite against the blight?"

"That's why we've only got one city left." Gimli said to a confused Gilead, "They won't even lift a finger to find their paragon."

"Paragon?"

"A living ancestor." Gimli went on, "When a dwarf makes a lasting contribution to dwarven society, they get elevated to noble status with a whole house with their name on it. Sometimes, paragons can even override the assembly and the king in times of trouble."

"But no..." Oghren spat again, this time hitting the bartender in the eye and causing the old man to his head against a beer barrel,"They're too caught up in their damn politics to lift a finger to find her! Damn nug-humpers!"

"Your paragon?" Gilead inquired, unfamiliar with dwarven lore as the refugees in the bar went about their normal lives as though there weren't several corpses in the bar, "Surely there are other paragons that could assist you?"

"Here's the catch." Gimli clarified as he took some coin from the dead, "Every other paragon is long dead and I don't think even magic could bring them back for as long as they've been rotting."

"Watch your mouth!"

"Just telling the truth Oghren. The paragon that my friend here is talking about is a smith named Branka. She was elevated when she discovered a way to make smokeless fire and then went missing a few years ago along with her whole house. I heard that some legionnaires were sent to find her but-"

"That was just a rumor," Oghren spat again, hitting a mouse to allow a cat to catch it and eat it, "Even if it was true, there's no way of knowing if they found her or not."

"I see that this is beyond my reach." Gilead said to himself as he left the dwarfs to scrabble to themselves, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you." The Chantry sister replied as she closed the eyes of her last victim, "I apologize if I interfered, but I could not just sit by and not help."

"I see, I do appreciate your attempt."

"I am glad that you found it in your heart to offer those men mercy."

"A pity that they...he did not take it." Gilead said, "I am Gilead, Seeker of clan Mahariel and Grey Warden of Ferelden."

"And I am Leliana, one of the lay sisters here in Lothering..." The woman said, "At least I was."

"Was?"

"Those men were looking for Grey Wardens..." Leliana noted as Gilead nodded, "So you will be battling the darkspawn, yes? That is what Grey Wardens do?"

"As far as we have been told, yes."

"I heard about what happened at Ostagar. I know that after everything that happened, you will need all of the help that you can get, that is why I'm coming with you.

"Really?" The Dalish elf asked with an smile, "Who said for you to assist us?"

"The Maker." A cricket chirped through silence as the wardens regarded this woman, "I...I know that sounds strange...but it's true! I had a dream! A vision!"

"Wha?"

"Here we go..."

"What was this vision?"

"Look at the people here." Leliana said, pointing the wardens out to refugees who were dancing, singing and all in all making the best of their situation, "They are lost in their despair. This darkness, this chaos...will spread...The Maker doesn't want this. What you do, what you are meant to do is the Maker's work. Let me help!"

"Excuse us for a moment." Gimli said to the woman as he, Oghren and Gilead walked over into a side room and closed the door behind them. The elf was stunned when two other corpses of Loghain's men were found with a single acronym written in blood on the wall above them.

_**RFL**_

"What does that mean?"

"I don't think I wanna know..."

"You thinkin what I'm thinkin?"

"What? That she's a complete nut? Yeah."

"Why?" Gilead asked the two dwarves, "She merely professes an ability to speak to her god."

"We're dwarves, remember? We don't have gods."

"Of course you do, you merely have a different name for them."

"You sayin that you believe her?"

"No, I don't believe her." Gilead admitted to Oghren, "But that doesn't mean that we won't need her help. You saw how agile she was in that fight. For a sister of the Chantry, she knows much more about battle than she should."

"These look like hard times for the surface, why should I be surprised?"

"The elf's gotta a point, those ain't skills you get from sitting in some building." Oghren said with a hint of intelligence, "Sides, she does have a nice rack, I'd give her a pass."

"If you're both for it, then I won't object."

"Very well." Gilead said as he led the others out of the room and back to a waiting Leliana, "My dear...you said your name was Leliana?"

"Yes..."

"If you don't mind traveling in the company of Grey Wardens. Then we would be happy to accept your help."

"Thank you." Leliana said in appreciation as she kissed the elf on each of his cheeks to his utter shock, "You won't regret your decision, Grey Warden."

"Please, Gilead will be fine."

"Gimli for me." Brosca said as Gilead quickly recovered from the lay sister's actions and absently wiped his cheeks as though he had a rash when she turned away, "Well...it's been fun Oghren-"

"What are ya talking about?" The dwarf said in outrage, "I'm coming with ya!"

"Says who?"

"Says my little axe aching for a neck to cut!" Oghren replied, "Sides, you're probably going back to Orzammar soon, ain't ya?"

"That's the plan." Gimli said, remembering what the wardens had discussed earlier, "But it may be a while, you sure you can be that patient?"

"Long as I have enough necks." Oghren stated, "When we get there, do what you're gonna do to get Endrin and the Assembly to act, but once we're through...we're shooting into the Deep Roads to find Branka. Deal?"

"That's a somewhat outrageous agreement." Gilead said to Oghren's chagrin, "We don't even know if-"

"Deal."

"Pardon us for a moment." Gilead said again, this time taking Gimli aside to a noiser part of the crowd, "What are you doing?"

"I've crossed him a few times, that guy's a mean dwarf to fight even without an axe." "Besides, we need all the help that we can get."

"And if we can't find Branka?"

"The Deep Roads may be deep, but you can find anything if you know where to look. Sides, I never said anything about finding her alive. As long as we at least look, we can tell him that there might not be anything to find, and he won't hate us for trying."

"I see." Gilead nodded and prepared to go back when he saw what their new dwarven warrior was doing, "What is he?"

"One more for the road!" The dwarf shouted as he drained in entire keg of beer that he'd found in the side room.

"He is an adventurous soul." Leliana said with a giggle as Oghren boastfully laughed and began to march out of the bar.

And fell onto his face in the doorway.

"Are you certain-"

"He's staying with us."

* * *

><p><strong>Lothering Windmill<strong>

"That was boring."

"It is battle." Sten stated to Lily as she and Shatele walked amidst the corpses of the four bandits that they had slain, "It is not meant to be entertaining, it is a job and then it is done."

"I meant that it was too easy." Lily clarified as Shatele laughed while Huan cleaned blood off of her clothes, "How can I get better at fighting if you never have to work to win."

"Just because they're talent is not as your's that doesn't mean that you'll win without moving."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then choose your words more carefully elf."

"Are you sure that we don't want to leave him in that cage?"

"Lily!"

"I know..." Lily said to a stunned Shatele, "Let's just find the last bunch and head back to town."

"What if they find us?"

"Then we fight them regardless." Lily answered as an arrow flew the air and hit Sten in the shoulder. The Qunari noted the object with annoyed boredom, "So they found us."

"We are standing on a hill, Lily." Shatele pointed out as she threw out her shield to block another arrow as Lily dodged another one, "I don't think it would be too hard."

"Unless you are blind," Sten stated as he pulled out the arrow without flinching just before another arrow hit the same shoulder above his wound, "Bashara..."

"Are those wolves?" Shatele asked as a trio of white blurs started running towards them.

"Yes, they are!" Lily shouted as Huan pounced upon the first wolf as the other two bounded for Lily, "Sten!" Sten grabbed one of the wolves and stabbed his sword through it's hide as the other was bashed in the head by Shatele's shield and finished off by Lily as she threw her other knife into the skull of the wolf that Rabbit was handling.

Down the hill, a group of half a dozen lightly armored bandits and their more heavily armored leader cried as they charged at the wardens. Lily pulled out a flask containing a green liquid and kicked it down the hill, splashing it's contents upon the first two bandits as the others kept coming.

Upon meeting, Sten chopped down the first bandit that he encountered as Shatele tripped by another and retaliated with a stab through the man's stomach. Lily jumped down and clashed her knives against the handaxe of a skilled bandit. As they dueled, the bandit jabbed Lily in the side with a knife and drove his axe into her shoulder as she slashed across his neck.

While Huan tackled the last bandit and Sten and Shatele encountered and overwhelmed the heavily armed warrior, Lily pulled the axe out of her shoulder and held it as her foe bled out upon his back.

"There you go." She heard a voice say as magic surrounded and healed her injuries as her comrades wounded the last of the bandit group, "That might've been poisoned, nice job on these bandits though."

"Wait..." Lily turned to see a familiar face, "You're the mage from Ostagar...Lealion?"

"Awww, you remember my name." The red-haired mage replied with a smile, "That's a feat for most humans."

"Are you alright Lily?" Shatele called as she ran over to the elf and noticed the elven mage who had appeared, "Wait...you were one of the people from the Tower...Lealion?"

"You too?" Lealion asked giddily, "I know that we didn't really talk much either..."

"How did you survive?"

"Same way you did." Lealion replied to the now confused girls, "Maker's grace...right?"

"Actually we were saved by the witch-"

"Yeah, Maker's Grace!" Lily said for Shatele with her hand over the cousland lady's mouth as Lealion just smirked at the sight.

"How is that even possible..."

"What?"

"You...are women." Sten stated in silent disbelief while he wrenched his blade from the armored warrior, "How are women acting as men?"

"Excuse me?"

"You are all women, yes?"

"Obviously."

"But you are also...warriors."

"Yes." Shatele answered, "Being a woman doesn't mean we can't be fighters."

"Women are priests, artisans, farmers or shopkeepers. None of them have any place in fighting."

"Qunari don't have any female mages or warriors?

"Of course not." The qunari answered Lealion, "Why would our women wish to be men?"

"But we're not trying to be men."

"Then why are you warriors?"

"Because...we have a better chance of living when we can defend ourselves."

"But that is not your role."

"So what should we do? Sit down and wait for that role to come?"

"Yes...then again." Lily raised her eyebrow as Sten continued, "Your human societies...no one knows their place...everyone wants to be everything and therefore, too many necessities are vacant."

"How do you know that?"

"I've heard about Ostagar and what happened after that," Huan whined as the three ladies shifted their gaze to the ground, "Loghain was a general, but he fell out of that role and because of that vacancy, your army lost, your king was slain, and the darkspawn are now unopposed."

"Except by us."

"We'll see."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**I think that we can wrap up Lothering in the next chapter. Lothering's basically a breather level before the real recruitment quest begins. Especially since once the journey starts, there's no way to go back to Lothering at all.**

**Because the cookie jar's empty.**

**Yeah, the Mass Effect reference isn't hard to find. Just played through the first and second one and I enjoy both as much as Dragon Age. Though I still prefer four-person parties to three-person squads. Plus the gameplay in Mass Effect is really easy to break and cheat with if you have the right parts.**

**Leliana kissed Gilead as part of the French greeting kiss. Since Orlais is fantasy realm France, go figure.  
><strong>

**Anyway, read, review and enjoy!  
><strong>


	14. Lothering: Bridge of Force and Spirit

**Copyright: Take what you will from this, but I own nothing...sadly...**

* * *

><p><strong>Hawke Homestead, Lothering<strong>

"So this is how to use the Fist of the Maker?" Mairon said to himself as he threw down his hand and watched a cart slam on top of an unfortunate Chasind Warrior.

"You got the hang of it pretty quickly cousin." Bethany noted as Mairon entered the home of his cousin.

"It's not a very hard spell to use, truthfully." Mairon explained as he sat down and started reading over a patch in Malcolm's open tome, "It's just a matter of applying it's use."

"Father said the same thing..." Bethany sadly remembered, "Hawke did too...wonder if him and Carver are alright."

"They were killing ogres in the dozens when I last saw them." Mairon assured her, "I'm sure that they'll be home soon."

"I hope so..."

"Is this area of magic really that simple?" Mairon asked in disbelief as he read the through Malcolm's Tome, "How come more mages don't use this?"

"Most mages aren't illegal apostates."

"Or Grey Wardens." Mairon agreed as he closed the book and sat up to leave, "Thank you so much cousin, but I must be going."

"Going?" Bethany asked, "But you've only been here for an hour and we'll be having supper soon-"

"Tempting..." Mairon thought to himself before he pulled himself back into the chair, "Oh what the hell..."

"Unless...you're fellow wardens mind..."

"They don't." Mairon said to the young woman, "They hardly ever need me anyway."

"Aren't mages in the Grey Wardens important for them?"

"We have a skilled and diverse group, I'm sure that they're doing just fine without me."

* * *

><p><strong>Fields outside of Lothering<strong>

"Spiders! Spiders!"

"Get off! Get off!"

"Pashara..." Sten shook his head from side to side in disbelief as Tabris and Shatele frantically fought off a group of spiders. At first, the qunari was compelled to assist them, but their pathetic fear of these bugs was too much to fathom. "They're only overgrown arachnids."

"Exactly!" Lily shouted as she slashed the eye of one of the spiders, "Spiders are bad enough when they're normal sized!"

"This is your country's line of defense against the Blight?" Sten closed his eyes and exhaled before he felt an arcane bolt fly past him and slay one of the spiders, "And where is your Arvaarad, mage?"

"Arvaarad?" A confused Lealion quickly cast a binding circle in front of Shatele that kept a spider from overwhelming her, "Is that the qunari word for templar?"

"No...I mean your Arvaarad." Sten clarified as he ran his sword through another spider and spat out blood that had splashed into his face, "Your restrainer, the one who keeps you from succumbing to your dangerous nature."

"Uh...guess I'm my own Arvaarad."

"No..." Sten pulled out his sword as the mage healed a poisoned Huan. Realizing that hopelessness that this nation was already in, Sten decided not to beat a dead horse, "Unsurprising, your culture allows its mages to run too freely."

"Can we not have this argument with the spiders over there?"

"This is why women are not meant to be men."

"NOT NOW!"

* * *

><p><strong>Lothering Market Square<strong>

"Are you really a dalish elf, Gilead?"

"As opposed to one of your city pets?"

"Forgive me..." Leliana said apologetically, "You do not wearing the markings of a dalish...most dalish have tattoos on their body to show their heritage."

"This is true." Gilead conceded, "I am an exception...a seeker of my people."

"A seeker?"

"My Keeper said that I am to seek for something that was lost to my people." Gilead explained as he recalled back to his youth, "I suppose that this journey is my Walk. When a Seeker goes forth from their kin and do not return without something that was originally lost to them."

"Curious..." Leliana said as she noticed the marking on Gimli's face, "What of your tattoo, Gimli?"

"This means that it's okay to spit on my face and kick me into the dirt. Occasionally, I also got pissed on from the upper levels, had bad fruit thrown at me, and young warriors-in-training would kill me since no one would miss me anyway."

"That's awful...why?"

"Because my ancestor pick-pocketed a noble's bratty son." Gimli answered, "No really, grandpa kept records from as far back as possible. Then I memorized them before ma burned them all in a drunken fit...the Bitch..."

"Do warrior dwarfs have a marking on them?"

"Just the scars and tears of battle." Oghren answered before passing a bottle of bear to the former Casteless, "Nothing really special."

"Oh you give yourself too little credit-" Suddenly Gimli dropped his Oghren's booze when he got a slight headache, "Did you just get that?"

"Yes..." Gilead answered while turning his gaze north of the village, "Darkspawn are near. We must hurry."

"What about the rest of your companions?"

"They'll catch up." Gimli said to the red-hair as he inevitably fell behind the elf and Leliana, "Either way, we'll get an early lead on Aeducan."

"Lead?"

"Back at Ostagar, we got into a huge argument over what was better. An axe, a sword and shield, a bow, a crossbow, or magic. Whoever has the highest kill count at the end of this adventure wins."

"Sounds fun, room for another dwarf?"

"Sure, why not." Gimli replied to Oghren as an idea came to mind, "And if our kills don't beat the noble or the elf by themselves, I'll give my kills to you. Deal?"

"Not that I'll need em, but sure."

* * *

><p><strong>Lothering Chantry<strong>

"Thank you for your humble donation."

"We do what we can Holy Mother." Revan said to the venerable old woman as Alistair stood behind and Durin and Morrigan sat within her office bored out of their minds, "Would it be too much to...ask for your assistance?"

"Grey Warden...you have placed me and this chantry into a difficult position." The Holy Mother regretfully answered, "The Teryn has placed a bounty upon you for the act of treason against the crown."

"From what we've heard, Loghain has not presented evidence to support his claim."

"Nor have you come with evidence to the contrary." The old woman pointed out to the dwarf, "These are troubling times wardens...to support you would place this village in danger of retaliation from the Teryn's men and to turn you away would...unwise."

"You have already acted unwise by not leaving-"

"Not now..." Alistair said to cut off Durin, "What my friend means to say is that he understands your position. We would do fine with your blessing though, your grace."

"Blessing?" Morrigan asked in impatient outrage "What use have we for the blessings of a frail old woman?"

"If I recall, your mother is a frail old woman who saved our lives at Ostagar." Durin stated, "After Loghain's treachery."

"True, but though my mother is old, she is far from frail...trust me on this warden."

"I sense impurity from you woman..." The Holy Mother stated when a thought occurred to her, "And that bear...it is an ill sign...you bring great misfortune with you Grey Wardens."

"With respect your grace, but we are all that remains to keep Ferelden from falling to a greater misfortune."

"Your grace!" A templar ran into the office and bowed before the Holy Mother before continuing, "The prisoner is gone!"

"What? What do you mean gone?"

"The door to the monster's cage was...pulled from it's hinges." The templar reported as Revan gulped and Rabbit lied down and put his paw over his face, "And a group of villagers were found dead in the field...no doubt his work."

"The Qunari?" Alistair asked when he had an idea, "By your leave, perhaps we could be of service?"

"What do you mean we?" Morrigan said to the ex-templar, "Command the dwarf and the fool, but do not presume to volunteer me for trivial-"

"On the contrary, you must obey his suggestion."

"I think I'll listen to him this time."

"Thank you Alistair." Durin said to an amused Alistair, "You see my dear, you are a mage standing within the headquarters of the Chanters and their magic knights. If you do not do as we say, then we will simply leave you here to the mercy of these knights who will likely have their way with you and then drag your broken body to the mage circle."

"I knew that I'd regret it..."

"Apostate?" The Holy Mother looked with shock from the wardens to Morrigan, "You bring an apostate within our walls Wardens?"

"She is an accomplice within Grey Warden custody." Revan answered, "According to the Treaty of Weisshaupt signed in Divine 1:33, mages within our company are not within the power of the Chantry."

"Yes...though I wonder of it's validity in these times..." The Holy Mother admitted, "Very well, I have no wish for the templars to be burdened by yet another..."affair".

"I'm glad that you see reason." Revan said in gratitude, "Furthermore, I invoke the Right of Conscription on the Qunari prisoner."

"WHAT?" The Holy Mother stood up at Revan's words, "Do you even know what he did?"

"Right now, that doesn't matter," Revan bluntly said as Alistair began to sweat and Morrigan chuckled, "Thanks to Loghain, there are only seven wardens in our ranks. So we will have to make due with whatever we can find. Besides, I am sure that the prisoner would have faced death on either route, no?"

"That bear was an omen..." The old holy mother muttered as she sat back down in her chair, "Very well Grey Warden, do as you wish. But the Maker help you if you cannot keep that creature under control."

"Maker?" Durin asked when the wardens took their leave, "Are all surfacers this lazy with their idols?"

"Because Paragon is so much better."

"It is!" Durin said to Alistair, "They are the cornerstones of our society! What better name than paragon would you suggest?"

"Pillars?" Alistair suggested, "Thrones?"

"That just sounds silly."

"I second the witch's opinion."

"You're going after the prisoner then?" The Templar captain asked as the wardens approached, "Whatever you decide to do with the creature...Maker watch over you on your journey, Grey Wardens."

"Maker watch over you, Ser Bryant."

"Indeed..." Durin chimed in, "Pray that darkspawn have some emissaries to slay before you perish."

"What?"

"What I meant was-" Before Durin could finish, he grabbed his head as the other wardens did likewise, "Did you feel that?"

"Darkspawn..."

"We need to move." Alistair suggested as the Wardens agreed and sped out of the Chantry with Morrigan reluctantly following behind.

"Confounded dwarf..."

* * *

><p><strong>Fields outside of Lothering<strong>

"Curious."

"What's curious?"

"That no one else in your village would notice a group of spiders just outside of it." Sten said as he washed his sword in the nearby pond, "Or the strangely scorched pair of bears that may have been killed by a rogue mage."

"To be fair, these are trap spiders." Lealion pointed out with her staff, "Plus, a lot of people are kind of in denial anyway..."

"Why bother?"

"Denial makes everything better!" Lealion elated to Lily, "Like denying that they're sending a poor elven girl off to a mage prison and acting like she's off to some great academy."

"Isn't it better than an Alienage?" Lily asked to which Lealion shrugged her shoulders in reluctant agreement, "Besides...where is the town's alienage?"

"You're just now noticing the lack of fellow elves? From what I heard, most of us packed what little we had and ran for Redcliffe, the Lake or Denerem. A few people are even trying for Highever."

"So where do they live around here?"

"In hay-stacks, the barns, or the Chantry when the Holy Mother feels gracious." Lealion answered a now quiet and stunned Shatele, "Surprised?"

"That's just wrong." The Cousland girl replied, "You...know...I never understood why the Chantry had the elves go into the alienages. Why can't elves have homes like humans can?"

"She's so precious isn't she?" Lealion said to herself, "Go ask papa, will ya?"

"Father's dead." Lealion threw down her staff in a nervous reaction before turning back to the Cousland girl sitting down with her head tucked into her knees.

"Um..." Lealion sat down next to the human girl and shook her hair, "Sincerest apologies...but you really didn't know about how elves live? Don't you have an Alienage and elven servants in Highever?"

"Yes..." Shatele answered, "They live with all of the other servants and some volunteered as guards...that didn't matter to Howe though..."

"Hold on...Did I miss something?"

"She's from the Cousland family." Lily added, "One of the other nobles murdered the Couslands...Shatele and her brother, Revan are the only ones left...aside from their brother Fergus."

"Brother and sister? Love's thicker than blood they say."

"If you are all finished," Sten stated in impatience, "I believe we should regroup with your fellow wardens."

"We're working on it." Lily said after extracting venom from one of the spider corpses and putting it into a vial, "Just one more-" At the moment, Lily dropped the empty vial and fell to her knees as Huan started growling towards the north.

"Are you alright elf?"

"Darkspawn..." Lily managed, "They're...by the bridge..."

"Maker! Bodahn!"

"Who?"

"Bodahn..." Lealion replied to Shatele, "Him and his son found me and nursed me to health after Ostagar...they even gave me this shiny staff!

"How nice. We should save them then."

"In any case, isn't it the duty of Grey Wardens to fight the darkspawn?"

"You're getting on my nerves Qunari."

"Likewise, elf." Sten noted as the group ran off and followed a howling Huan.

"Mind if I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Do all elves pick fights with bigger men?" Shatele asked Surana, "Lily fights with Revan a lot too."

"If I had to guess, the qunari pisses her off." Lealion answered to which Shatele nodded, "As for your brother, come here..."

"Okay..." Shatele went closer to the mage and giggled at what she whispered, "Really? You think so?"

"Give it time, you'll know that I'm right." Lealion said as the Imperial Highway came into view, "If I'm wrong...I'll kiss the dirtiest womanizing scoundrel that I can find."

"Lets see..." Shatele thought for a moment on what she would do if Lealion was right, "And I'll kiss a templar if you're right."

"Be sure to dabble your lips in lyrium before you do." Lealion comically spat as their group began to conjoin with another one, "Are those friends of yours?"

"Brother! Alistair!"

"Good to see you Shatele!" Alistair greeted, "You sensed them as well?"

"Yeah...they're over by the Highway."

"Then we shouldn't delay." Revan said to Lily before he noticed the Qunari giant who impatiently regarded the wardens, "You're the prisoner that the Holy Mother spoke of."

"Until recently," Sten stated as Revan gave a quick glance to Shatele, "Your sister told me that you are the Karasten of the Grey Wardens in this country."

"Is that the qunari equivalent of a commander?"

"I suppose, you reportedly stand in authority amongst your peers." Sten stated, "I wish to aid you against the Blight."

"I see..." Revan replied thoughtfully as he turned to the others, "Any objections?"

"How do we know that-"

"Seeing none." Revan said as Durin grumbled about being ignored and offered his hand to Sten, "It's good to have you with us."

"Good...now we have a giant amongst us." Morrigan laughed as Sten looked questionably at Revan's hand and Revan nodded and put his hand back to his side, "Shall we proceed to the darkspawn before our comrades prove this addition useless?"

"You mean Brosca and Mahariel-" Aeducan's eyes widened when he heard the distant sound of an arrow flying and realized who Morrigan was talking about, "YOU CHEATING NUG-HUMPERS!" Durin cried as he charged across the fields of Lothering.

"What was he infuriated about?"

"Long story." Revan explained to Sten, "Let's join him!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hawke Homestead, Lothering<strong>

"Are you sure that you must be going lad?"

"As much as it pains me, the duty of a Grey Warden is always present." Mairon apologized to the middle-aged woman, "Farewell Aunt Leandra."

"Maker keep you child." Leandra embraced Mairon as the mage gasped at actual emotional contact. He reluctantly returned the gesture and then handed something to his new found aunt, "What's this?"

"It's for Bethany." Mairon said as Leandra looked over the chainmail corset that Mairon had picked off of that merchant from earlier, "Just in case she ever gets caught in a perilous situation. I used Uncle Malcolm's power to give it a bit more weight on the outside. That should allow it to cushion better against blunt force trauma..."

"Like what?"

"Maybe the clutches of a random ogre that will try to pummel her to death." Mairon said, thinking of the first thing that came to his mind, "Little things."

"I'll be sure to give it to her." Leandra stated, "Good luck."

"Don't need it, but thanks." Mairon said as he waved goodbye to Leandra Hawke and merrily marched towards the windmill. "That was rather...pleasant."

The mage took his time due to his pleasant mood. He had copied the contents of Malcolm's tome to heart, including a few barely readable notes about certain "blood arts" employed amongst the Grey Wardens. He got to see some family and was even treated to a warm meal without having to chase it and kill it first.

Chasing can be such a chore.

As he neared the windmill, he began to pick up the sounds of violence and bloodshed. Then he remembered that minor headache that he had during dinner. At first he thought it was just the cold water, but now he realized that it was something that he should be fighting.

"Oh! Darkspawn!" Mairon shouted as he walked past the windmill and noticed the Imperial Highway off in the distance. There, he saw a small band of warriors, rogues and mages do battle against a large group of darkspawn that were pouring into the field from the highway.

"Forty-eight!"

"You've a ways to go Aeducan!" Brosca shouted amidst the chaos of the battle, "And the ogres from Ostagar only count as one!"

"Interesting." Mairon said to himself as he neared the battle and saw a few new additions, "When did we expand into a warband?" As he neared the battle, he saw that Durin was fighting several hurlocks alongside a bronze giant while Morrigan froze a trio of genlocks as a red-haired woman fired at darkspawn archers on the bridge. Next to her, Gilead was firing at archers on the nearby ridge as Brosca took carefully aimed potshots into the darkspawn crowds as they engaged the warriors and rogues.

"Amell?"

"Surana?" Mairon said as he noticed his elven colleague behind a red-haired dwarf who had just decapitated a hurlock, "Good! You survived Ostagar!"

"So did you! Mind lending a hand?"

"Considering it." Lealion smirked and cast a spell of confusion into the crowd as Mairon surveyed the condition of the battle. Even though his companions would do fine without him, he decided to be nice in thanks for his good mood, "Okay..." With that, Mairon focused upon a band of hurlocks around Durin and lifted them into the air before slamming them down, allowing the gravity-charged fist of the Maker to do it's work upon their black souls.

"I...hate...you..."

"Sure you do Aeducan." Mairon said brushing off Durin and deciding to satisfy his curiousity by talking to the bronze giant, "Are you a qunari?"

"Yes." Sten answered after pulling his sword out of a Hurlock Alpha, "Are you a Grey Warden?"

"Yes." Mairon replied before swerving under a genlock's stab and then firing an arcane bolt into it's face, "Where are your horns?"

"And where is your armor?"

"Armor..." Mairon laughed as Sten was attacked by a hurlock, "Over-glorified in my book. Cailan had a full set of armor and look how well it protected him-"

"Less talking! More helping!"

"Fine." Mairon said to a nearby Alistair and yawned as he fired a fireball into the crowd of darkspawn and either blew them away or set them ablaze with magical fiery, "Are all of you happy?"

"Emissary!" Revan shouted as he and Shatele leapt under the bridge to avoid a powerful fireball thrown by the hurlock emissary standing on the bridge. Several arrows flew at it, but they were diverted by some sort of force field.

"That one looks powerful..." Mairon noted based on how the emissary didn't use a staff and how carefully calculated his electrocution of the red-haired dwarf had been. As he watched, the emissary began to charge a fireball while currents of lightning surged into the attack, "I didn't know that you could combine lightning and fire...I need to try that sometime..."

"Take him out!" Mairon heard Cousland shout as the emissary turned it's attention to the blue-haired elf. As she took out three genlock rogues, the emissary finished charging it's attack as Mairon looked at his hand and then at Revan who was running towards Tabris after felling a genlock alpha, "Lily!"

The emissary fired it's attack just as Revan planted his feet in front of the elven girl and Mairon charged magic into his own hands...

* * *

><p><strong>DA 9:40<strong>

"Why pause?"

"Sorry..." The Orator apologized as he settled down and stopped laughing, "Okay...I'm going to give the two of you three options."

"I can play along." Varric said with a smirk, "Options on what Mairon did?"

"Exactly." The Orator answered, "Can you guess one?"

"I can guess the only two rational ones." Cassandra asserted smugly, "A, Revan ducks down, Lily runs onto his back and jumps over the blast and lands on the emissary to stab it through the neck or B, Mairon uses his Force Spell to divert the blast aside and kill the darkspawn himself."

"Or C, Mairon stands there and watchs; Revan takes the blast full on; Gets launched into the air; hits the ground and almost dies."

"Varric that is too ridiculous to-" Hearing the Orator snicker, Cassandra grumbled as she turned towards him, "No..."

"What can I say, the man is a character study..."

* * *

><p><strong>DA 9:30<strong>

"Oh...that looked like it hurt..." Mairon said to himself as Revan flew through the air, slammed his back against a piece of the bridge's architexture and fell off the side of the bridge, "Huh...I could've shot it the whole time...live and learn...at least I do." With that, the mage fired an arcane bolt that seared through the emissary's chest before it realized what had happened.

Apparently overwhelming force is only good when no one is left afterwards.

* * *

><p><strong>DA 9:40<strong>

"They should've gone with A."

"I would've preferred B myself." The Oratar admitted, "But it's not about our preferences...is it?"

* * *

><p><strong>Beyond the Shadows of Thedas<br>**

"Where am I?" Revan stood up and was both and amazed and confounded by his surroundings. All around him, he saw castles floating in green air and behind him was a boat stranded in an empty pond, "This certainly is not what I expected the afterlife to be like."

"You are in the fade..." Revan heard a familiar voice say to him, "Confusion...I'm not surprised."

"Duncan?"

"No, child." The Duncan answered as Revan felt a wane frown form on his face, "I am simply taking on a form that would be most familiar and comfortable for you."

"What is your true form?" Revan inquired, now curious about this entity's true face, "Is it something mortals cannot comprehend?"

"Oh no...you see...I have a habit..." Duncan chuckled, "I hardly ever interact with mortals, so when I do...I take on a human form which I glance from your memories. This man was a very regal individual and one whom you respected."

"He was the Commander of the Grey Wardens..."

"And he frequently visited your home in Highever throughout your life." Revan nodded solemnly until a horrible thought occurred to him, "Don't worry, I didn't glance too far into your memories. Though I've always been curious about the mating rituals of mortals-"

"Then find another mind." Revan stated, "Anyway...what am I doing in the fade?"

"You placed yourself in the path of a powerful lightning charged fireball." Duncan explained, "What did you expect to happen?"

"I didn't think about that."

"Exactly why you're here."

"I'm dead?"

"Not yet..." At Revan's horror, the Spirit burst out laughing as Revan joined in nervously, "Ha! Ha! You mortals are serious about death! No, you're not dead. You displayed great charity and courage through your act. Therefore, I have decided to aid you."

"Aid me?"

"Yes boy, need I repeat myself? I am a Spirit of Charity and I wish to give my assistance to the Grey Wardens through you, Revan Cousland."

"What...I have no intention of becoming your vessel."

"This is not possession." The Spirit clarified, "Besides, the taint in your blood would make possession more of a chore than a benefit and you hardly have a drop of magic in your body anyway."

"Magic?" Revan asked when he realized what the spirit had just said, "I'm not a mage-"

"Did I say that you were?" The Spirit asked bluntly, "You have latent magical ability within your blood that was passed from your parentage. Not enough for it to manifest on your own and normally mortals like you go their whole lives without it ever developing. Of course, if you were a normal mortal then every child you had would likely inherit magic from you."

"My parents aren't mages-"

"That's not the point!" The Spirit's raised voice echoed thoughout the ground as Revan felt his feet shift. Fortunately, the Spirit calmed down and went on, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to ask so many questions. I'm about unlock your latent magical ability and you can't help but pick at every damn word that I say! Most mortals would be happy that they're about to be granted an ability that defies the conventions of their being! But no! You ask questions! And more questions! You may be Rivaini in blood, but you're certainly a Ferelden in spirit! You're just like Fereldens! You talk! And you talk! And you think that you're always right and can always pick up when someone else is wrong! You're all so damn pompous! Always wanting to bark at the moon and show off how damn proud and self-sufficient you are! Well this isn't one of those times! Especially in your situation warden-born!"

"I see..." Revan conceded, "Then please accept my apologies for my behavior, Spirit."

"And another thing-" Realizing what Cousland had just said, the Spirit softened his visage, "Oh...that's a first..."

"No one has every apologized to you?"

"You were sincere in your apology, that is a first." The Spirit explained, "Now I see that I chose wisely. Of course, you do have the option of saying no. This process will be tiring."

"If it will aid in my quest." Revan declared, "I would be a fool to refuse."

"Good." The Spirit stated gladly as he held out his now glowing hand, "Now hold still for me will you?"

"What are you-" At the moment, the Spirit thrust his forearm into Revan's chest. Revan felt unable to breath as a great force seemed to clutch onto his heart and a cold fire seared through his being.

"To answer your unspoken question, I am using my essence to awaken yours." The Spirit explained before withdrawing his hand and causing the Cousland scion to stumble backwards, "When you awaken, you will find yourself in possession of magical traits, traits that will transform you into a Warrior of the Spirit. For your power does not draw from the fade, directly."

"It will draw from within your spirit..." The Spirit stated as suddenly the ground shook once more, "Here comes the kick, just in time too."

"Kick?" Revan asked as he looked up and saw a large irregular boulder of dirt and rock fly down towards him, "What the-"

* * *

><p><strong>Imperial Highway, Lothering<strong>

"I told you that it would work."

"Brother!" Shatele embraced her brother in the aftermath of the heated skirmish, "Maker...he's bleeding all over the ground!"

"Very awaken, I might add." Durin assured young Cousland, "Now Miss Lealion, if you would be so kind as to heal him?"

"With gusto." Lealion said as she kneeled down next to Revan and quickly applied her healing magic, "I'm surprised that you're still alive from that."

"Okay...how did that work?"

"Simple." Durin said to a confused Gimli, "I reasoned that the darkspawn's blast had thrown him into a catatonic state. So, the only way to get him out of that state would be to apply a great blunt force to his head in order to spark his mind to awaken, allowing Revan to come forth from his catatonic state."

"What if that had killed instead?"

"But it didn't kill him." Gimli said to a venting Lily and then pointed out the stirring Revan, "See? He is awake. Theory proven."

"Remind me never to fall out around him Mahariel..."

"Likewise Brosca..."

"It is a good thing that no one died in that battle."

"Yes...now please don't go into a rant about how the Maker has blessed us."

"But the Maker has blessed us this day. To be drawn together in order to fight as one against the coming darkness of the Blight."

"I'm going to walk over here and pretend you're not speaking." Morrigan said as she saw some nirnroot nearby, "Don't start praying for my soul either!"

"What happened to the rest of em?"

"It was scouting party." Gilead said to Oghren, "This one came from the north...the darkspawn are moving quicker than we feared."

"They do have the run of the Deep Roads, so that ain't surprising."

"You mean the dwarf tunnels that run throughout Thedas?"

"The very same." Alistair said to Shatele, "Though it is surprising that they would still focus they're efforts in Ferelden instead of spreading outwards into other nations...maybe then we wouldn't be alone in our misery..."

"Ferelden is the perfect staging ground for their forces." Gilead stated, "Hence, we need to get moving to the Tower."

"The Circle Tower?" Lealion asked before she nervously smirked, "And I thought Gregoir was having a fit before..."

"Who cares what Gregoir thinks?" Mairon brought up when he felt a surge of hatred radiate towards him, "What? What's wrong with you?"

"My...entire body...is still...numb...and...in...horrible...agony..." Revan slowly answered while holding his head and chest, "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?"

"I was fighting the darkspawn like everyone else."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU BLOCK THAT LAST SHOT?"

"I thought you had it under control."

"NO! Standing in the path of the lightning-charged fireball is having control of the situation!"

"You are alive and Tabris is well, so I would agree with Mairon."

"Lovely!" Revan grunted as Shatele helped him to his feet, "It hurts...to move..."

"Then don't move."

"You're not helping!"

"If I might intrude..." The group turned to a middle-aged dwarf who appeared from the wreckage with another beardless dwarf, "You and your friends are...formidable folk...thank you for saving me and my boy. Sandal, say thank you."

"Thank you."

"Guess we're even Bodahn." Lealion assured the dwarf, "These are pretty dangerous times. You're welcome to tag along with us-"

"Hold on..." Durin cut in, "Since when were you a member of our assembly? And since have you been able to arbitrarily recruit members into our assembly? Which you are not apart of?"

"Well..." Lealion thought for a moment before she went on, "I'd like to think since I was with you at Ostagar, healed the wounds of your companions, and I'm also providing an opportunity for a symbiont mercantile relationship with Bodahn and his skilled son, maybe I might have earned a place without saying."

"Plus, she did help me, Lily, Huan and Sten." Shatele pointed out in Lealion's defense, "And when have you been able to deny entry into our assembly?"

"Valid counterpoint, Lady Cousland." Durin confessed, "So now we have a drunken dwarf, a qunari prisoner, a hyperactive elven mage and a delusional chantry bard in our assortment."

"Delusional?"

"He's new to the surface. Kind of like me, only more arrogant and stupid."

"I heard that Castless!"

"Kalah's still primed you spoiled little..."

"And Alistair is still the weak link."

"Hey!"

"Well...like Lealion said," Revan said to the dwarven merchant as he stood up and exhaled, "It would be to both of our conveniences to work together...no?"

"You are...Grey Wardens..."

"And what do you have in that cart that could defend from the darkspawn?"

"Enchantment!"

"Now...now...Sandal." Bodahn said to his surprisingly calm and complacent son, "But, I do owe you wardens my life. I suppose that we could stay in your company for a while."

"Then we're agreed." Revan said as he grunted in pain, "Damn it...that blast opened my wounds..."

"I thought you were drinking that potion?"

"I was...wait...I forgot about this morning's drink..." Revan admitted to Alistair and saw Rabbit run over with an injury pack and the potion that he'd forgotten to drink this morning, "Thanks, Lily."

"Don't mention it, Revan." Lily called over after Huan finished cleaning off her blades, "I mean it."

"Very well." Revan conceded as he applied the kit and drained the potion, "Come on lot...we have a long road."

"The Circle Tower is only a few days from here."

"A long...road..." A rejuvenated but still tired Revan repeated as the group gathered together and started moving down the Imperial Highway.

"There might be hope for them after all." Sten muttered as he followed up behind the wardens as they started their journey north to Lake Calenhad.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**That wraps up Lothering and we also have two of the wardens gaining their specializations. The other's will have their's soon as well since this is around the time that the first spec. is unlocked in the original game.**

**Let's see...we wrapped up Lothering in about four chapters, technically three-in-a-half but whatever. I first said that this was because it was a breather level, but another reason is that in all of my playthroughs, Lothering was really short anyway.**

**You can literally zip through it in less than ten minutes if you ignore sidequests, recruit Sten and Leliana and then be on your way to the rest of the game. I kind of wish that there was something more to have players more invested in this town and want to stay in it for longer...maybe even witness it get destroyed.  
><strong>

**The next chapter or two might be mainly tent-talk and travel tales while I do research on the mage's tower quest and what I can do with that. After that? We'll see dear friends...**

**Here's a question that I've always wondered about, why are the darkspawn focusing on one nation instead of using the Deep Roads to attack everyone? Especially since few other nations are even aware of the Blight having started...**

**Just a random thought. As always, read, review, and enjoy!  
><strong>


	15. Travel Tales I

_The ground pulsed with the vibration of it's flapping wings..._

_Fell dark colored fire flew out from it's nostrils as it roared in the deeps..._

Lily rolled out of her sheets and jolted awake when something brushed onto her back. She looked to see that she had rolled far from her spot in camp and just managed to avoid triggering one of Gimli's bear traps.

She lightly stood up and quietly walked away from the campsite. It wasn't even dawn yet and she could tell that some members of their band would awaken soon.

But noticing that a certain human noble wasn't sleeping next to his sister, Lily followed a set of heavy foot prints in the dried mud into the woods surrounding the site. Lily felt like it was sheer luck so far, for the past two days, the group had managed to find a lot of clearings within the woods between Lothering and the Circle Tower. Likely left over from other traveling shemlen groups.

"Where is it..." She heard the noble say as Lily came upon him standing within the woods. A light blue aura covered his body as he padded himself down, "Here we are."

"Everyone has a secret...don't they Cousland?" Lily asked as the aura faded from Revan's body, "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"If you must know, I didn't sleep too well."

"Dreams?"

"Aren't we all?"

"Guess we are..." Lily agreed as she sat next to the noble scion, "What did you dream about?"

"Isn't it the same as everyone else?" Revan asked without facing Lily "The Archdemon, the darkspawn horde...so on and so forth?"

"Yeah, but that's not all is it?"

"Why would you know?"

"I still have nightmares about my last day in Denerim," Lily admitted, feeling a sick distaste grow in her throat as she did, "One of those brutes managed to shove their "sword" down my throat...I gagged on it and threw up after that..."

"I won't dispute the unpleasantness from that," Revan breathed, "And having heard more about Vaughen, I think that I can retract my previous comments made in his defense."

"He's dead now, not like I care..." Lily waved off, of course the noble would stand up for another noble. Though she found it somewhat comforting for him to acknowledge just what Vaughen was, "It won't block out Shianni's screams of pain...or seeing Neleros impaled through the swords of two guards..."

"Was he your fiancee?"

"Yes..." Lily answered, "I'd only met him once...you've gotta have guts or a lot of loose space in the head to go off and risk your life for a woman that you've only known for a day."

"I wouldn't blame him," Revan agreed, "He was to be your husband...husbands charge headfirst into the Deep Roads for those that they love. You should feel honored that he cared for you as much."

"And you'd know?" Lily asked and immediately regretted it when she saw his faint smile disappear, "Oh...guess you would..."

"It's not easy either..." Revan said as Lily sat down on the ground and watched the human noble who just stood looking towards the north, "I actually prefer the darkspawn dreams...they keep me focused on what we have to do. They drive me rather than intimidate me..."

"You're inspired by dreams about darkspawn? I wouldn't go that far...are the other dreams that bad?"

"I see my father..." Lily immediately knew where this was going, "Howe's men attacked us in the night...they weren't even taking prisoners...they just killed whoever they could find. Rabbit was with Shatele and I was with Iona..."

"Iona?" It was a name that she had heard in passing. Sometimes she'd heard Shatele mutter that name in her sleep.

"Lady in waiting for Bann Loren's wife..." Revan said as Lily waited for more, "We...had an intimate encounter...she answered the door to my room and was ran through and flipped onto the floor. The soldier licked the blood from his sword...he threatened to relieve me of my..."

"Third arm?" Revan raised an eyebrow at Lily's term, "It's a word that some of the guards used for it...probably to make it sound bigger than it really is..."

"That's a new one for me...but yes..." Revan said with a short chuckle, "I grabbed my sword and killed the soldier and his partner...Shatele met outside, she and Rabbit were covered in blood from the soldiers who tried to kill her...Mother ran out to meet us...she had barricaded herself in her and father's room when Howe's men attacked."

"Then what?"

"We went to check on Oriana and Oren...my brother's family..." Lily saw Revan's left hand shake and tighten into a fist, "Oriana had been stripped...raped repeatedly before they slit her throat...Oren was still alive when we found him...but I knew that he wasn't going to make it. Shatele held him as he died asking about griffons...he loved hearing stories about them..."

"Then we went outside...Howe's men had already begun their attack...mostly rogues, but some soldiers as well...all of them had sneaked into the castle and attacked the castle garrison while they slept. A few managed to wake, but fewer were still alive when we got out...I wanted to stay...to fight...but I knew also that this was a lost battle. We saved as many as we could, a baker who chose to fight alongside us, a few guards in the chantry alter...servants who had hid themselves in their rooms...but the castle was surrounded...as soon as the night had begun, the castle was lost."

"Revan..."

"We left for the servant's passageway..." Revan went on, "It was in the pantry near the kitchen...a pass that was built before the occupation in case the castle was ever attacked. When we got there...father was there...lying in a pool of his own blood..."

"Howe had already done him in...Duncan managed to bring him to the pass before he left to find us." Revan's legs wobbled though Lily couldn't see his face, "We wanted to take him with us...but I knew...and he did too...he wasn't going to make it...and carrying him would slow us down...enough for Howe's men to kill all of us."

"And then Duncan came..." Lily said and then a thought occurred to her, "Wait...was he always there?"

"He had gotten back from Denerim..." Revan replied, "He was to accompany me, father, Howe and Fergus to Ostagar to meet the king. I guess he wanted to meet the rest of the recruits on the way to Ostagar...but Howe lied to father and Fergus left with most of our forces..."

"I wasn't sure where Duncan was either..." Revan went on, "But we didn't have time to argue, we had to escape. He offered his assistance in escaping in return for a recruit..."

"So you got bribed into this too..."

"It wasn't a choice that I argued against..." Revan clarified firmly, "I had already talked with my father about joining the wardens in this time of a blight...Father was unsure and mother was very verbal in her disapproval. But father accepted my decision..."

"You went with Duncan for something that you were already going to do?"

"To ensure that Shatele would not be recruited." Revan stated, "One of us would need to tell Fergus about what happened and...carry on the Cousland name beyond the Blight...so I convinced Duncan to allow her to accompany us for his recruit..."

"He accepted?"

"He told me that I was always his first candidate for recruitment...the one that he wanted as a warden the most..." Revan said, "My terms were acceptable to him...so long as Shatele kept quiet about any warden affairs that she witnessed..."

"I would've thought that he'd be harder on the secrecy stuff..." Lily admitted, the face of a stricken Jory still haunting her memories, "Then you left? What happened to your mother?"

"She stayed with father." Lily gasped and closed her eyes, "She couldn't leave him, she promised to cut down anyone who came there to buy us time...but she would not leave father...not matter how much I begged...no matter how much Shatele cried..."

"But you had to leave..." Lily said when she thought that she heard Revan sniff, "Did you see them-"

"I knew that they would be dead within minutes..." Revan went on and stood still like that for several moments, "Anyway...we should probably move out soon."

"Move out?" Lily asked, "It's not even dawn yet!"

"Exactly. Darkspawn aren't intelligent, but they are aware of human sleep patterns. They may attack at dawn...when we haven't fully awoken."

"Fine, Revan..." Lily reluctantly agreed, "By the way...I'm sorry about what I said about your mother..."

"You already did."

"I didn't really mean it...wasn't thinking..." Lily said, "Your parents were noble for shemlen...I'm sorry about what happened to them...and..."

"Is there a problem?"

"You're pretty tough..." Lily found herself blurting out, "If I had lost my father on my wedding day...I don't think I would've had the strength to become a warden...or keep fighting in spite of everything..."

"But Lady Tabris, it takes a lot of spirit to face down an Arl's son and his guard with the law against you." Revan said, "Come now...let's wake the others..."

"I lost my mother too..." Lily blurted out again, why was she telling this man something like that? "Nevermind...I don't even know where that came from..."

"Are you attempting to sympathize with a shemlen, Lady Tabris?"

"And you want the sympathy and understanding of a lowly elf, Lord Cousland?"

"I wouldn't mind those from a friend..."

"Is this where you go into a long-winded speech about unity and putting our differences aside for the greater good and the fate of Thedas?" Both wardens looked up to see a dwarf drop from the treetops and into view, "What?"

"How long have you been there?"

"Longer than I cared to." Gimli answered while packing a small log into his bag, "I was getting firewood for the road and wanted to see how long it would take for the two of you to start killing each other."

"Well, I'm glad to disappoint you." Revan spoke up with humor in his voice, "Anyone else up?"

"Just about everyone..." Gimli said, "You guys had dreams too?"

"I'm surprised that I'm not shuddering from that dragon..." Lily said, remembering her most recent nightmare, "Why didn't Duncan just tell the surface nobles about the dragon?"

"He did." Alistair answered from behind Gimli, "No one believed him, remember? Everyone just assumed that he was making it all up...political nonsense, no offense Revan."

"We have Howe to thank for that."

**...x...x...x...x...**

"What are you cooking?"

"Rabbit stew." Morrigan answered Shatele while a hound whined, "Not you! An actual rabbit!"

"You weren't exactly clear on the distinction." Durin pointed out, "I must ask again Amell, how were you able to gather five wolves for food? All in the same day?"

"A trade secret that you need something to use." Mairon said as he snapped his fingers to light a magical flame on his finger tips, "Hint, if you can't do this then you're out of luck."

"I'm still amazed every time that I see it..." Bodahn said in awe at the mana flame in Mairon's hands, "I never really knew why anyone would mess with lyrium till I met you, master mage."

"Master mage?" Mairon repeated to himself, "I like it..."

"A prisoner to his power is no master." Sten scoffed with stoic disapproval, "You should cease your pointless antics and prepare to face the darkspawn, Bas Saarebas..."

"You know...it's not intelligent to mock people so far from home."

"I am not mocking you, I am stating what you are." Sten shot back at Lealion, "A woman who is a bas saarebas who acts as a man."

"Mairon..." Lealion grabbed her forehead, "Shoot him...please...shoot him..."

"Shooting me will prove nothing." Sten stated, "The two of you are still Bas Saarebas and are controlled by your power."

"Which is why you shouldn't be kicking the ledge that looms over you." Revan commented as he "Soon as breakfast is done, we move out."

"Agreed." Gilead sat outside of the circle around the fire and looked into the woods, "The woods here have grown more quiet."

"Sorry about that..." Mairon spoke up, "I'd rather like to see the Circle Tower myself...wonder if that old man in the port is still alive?"

"Why should we hasten to this port village?"

"Because out in the wild, the darkspawn will be more likely to track and overrun us, Aeducan."

"Wouldn't going to a village be counter productive to our cause, Mahariel?"

"Oh here we go..."

"It is merely an observation," Durin said to the chuckling Gimli, "The darkspawn on the surface tend to attack areas where lots of people go to, no? Hence, the least safe place to be would be a village, because that's where the darkspawn are going."

"And the wilderness of Ferelden filled with bandits, beasts and other unknown dangers is a much safer ground to trend?"

"Yes." Durin answered Alistair, "For one, there is more room to maneuver in order to evade the darkspawn and we'll be less likely to be trapped amidst desperate, pathetic and frightened refugees who'd sooner cower than fight for their own lives. Further, we are far more capable of combating bandits, beasts and any other unknown unknowns due to the content of our company."

"Hate to admit it, but Durin does speak truth here." Gilead conceded with a small smirk, "And to think that I once envied shemlen and their cities."

"What's there to envy?"

"I now ask myself that same question." Gilead said as he gave an aside to Lily, "Tell me kinsman, do the elves of the city flee with the shems? Or are they even allowed out of their cage?"

"Who says that we ask?" Lily asked back, "The alienages honestly keep shems out than elves inside. There's no law preventing an elf from leaving the alienage to find another home in the city or to just leave the city altogether."

"But since you're all so poor and tiny, you can't even afford to put a single bit towards leaving." Mairon pointed out, "Then even if you leave, us bastard humans will just kick out your shins and you'll be left crawling back if at all."

"Thank you...Mairon..." Lily said sarcastically, "But if we had to leave, we don't have much to carry...the only question would be which direction to start in."

"In any case, our road is already decided." Revan stated, coming between the two elves to keep a fight from breaking out, "That village has the only means of reaching the tower aside from a long and arduous swim...and we may need strength in case the darkspawn are in that area..."

* * *

><p><strong>Alienage, Denerem<strong>

Today was not a good day for Cyrion Tabris.

He lived within a corner along with his people with their walls ever seeming to close in further upon them. Choking them.

Now these walls were separating him from the outside world and any chance of ever seeing his daughter, dead or alive.

"Thomas Howe..." Cyrion said with dull sarcasm when he saw the young man explore the alienage with an entourage of inexperienced and obviously handpicked guards, "The son of the new Teryn."

"What's he doing here?"

"I heard a rumor going around..." Soris added in, "They say that Loghain's made Howe the arl of Denerem as well as Teryn."

"That would leave all of northern Ferelden under his control..." Shianni realized, "No one's stepping up to this-"

"Who would Shianni?" Cyrion asked, "The two of you were too young, but many still remember the occupation that Loghain freed them from. This alone grants Loghain a great deal of trust despite the certainty of a civil war. In addition, Loghain now has a strong and reinforced area loyal to him...the bannorn lack the backing of a teryn and this will bode ill."

"Then there's the blight..." Soris mentioned lowly, "If Lily knew what these shems were doing..."

"As soon as Lily's done with the darkspawn, then she'll show them their asses!" Shianni cried to Soris, "I'm not believing a word that they say about her being gone until I see her corpse as a flag for the darkspawn."

"Shianni..." Cyrion would have continued, but he noticed a guard who was walking over to Cyrion intent on fulfilling a mission, "Manners young ones."

"Are you Cyrion Tabris?"

"I am..." Cyrion answered the guard, "What is it, ser?"

"Your elder informed us that your daughter was a Grey Warden." The guard said sternly and yet with a hint of respect, "What did she look like?"

"Why? Unless you plan to collect her corpse?" Cyrion inquired, "I was told that the Grey Wardens were all dead-"

"That is none of your concern elf."

"I'm afraid that it is..." Cyrion countered, surprising both the guard and his niece and nephew, "With all due respect, this is my daughter...my only child...would it hurt to indulge a tired and wearied old man?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt..." The guard decided as his countenance softened, "Was she an elf with blue hair, a light form, and always had a snippy thing to say about humans?"

"She was..." Soris answered as he caught onto the man's words, "She lives?"

"Nothing for sure..." The guard answered, "A few friends just got back from Lothering and mentioned an odd crowd that passed through and killed a local band of bandits. One of them was an elf with blue hair."

"Thank the Maker..." Cyrion said as moist built up in his eyes, "For certain?"

"I couldn't tell you that." The guard admitted, "Honestly, I've probably said more than I was supposed to. But this whole mess about Grey Wardens trying to overthrow the king and Ferelden? In the middle of a Blight? I'll take any lining of hope that I can get."

"Why aren't you at your post boy?" Denerem's new bann demanded as he came over, "What did I tell you about speaking to these knive eared rats?"

"Sir...this is the father of one of the Grey Wardens...I was simply-"

"Simply disobeying the orders of your bann?" Thomas inquired impatiently, "I should have you flogged for this."

"My lord...do not blame him...he was simply indulging an old man-"

"Silence whelp!" Thomas shouted as he smacked Cyrion across the old man's face, "Or have you forgotten your place?"

"Is it a crime to inquire for news of my daughter?" Cyrion asked as he held out an arm to keep Shianni from making another costly mistake, "What if your father had gone to Ostagar my lord?"

"Then we wouldn't have lost the battle, of course." Thomas answered, "Cyrion Tabris? You're the father of that trouble-maker...Lily right? The blue haired bitch that killed Vaughen and was welcomed into the Grey Wardens with open arms...a funny little world that we live in."

"Doesn't the Chant say that the Maker's judgement will fall hardest on murderers and rapists?" Shianni asked with a satisfied smile, "I bet the bastard didn't have anyone come to his funeral."

"His father hardly recognized him after what that bitch did..." Thomas recounted to an unsympathetic Shianni, "To be assaulted like this by filthy rats such as yourself...Fortunately, your daughter got what she deserved at the hands of the darkspawn."

"I suggest that you-"

"That I what? Where is the funeral for your daughter? At least Vaughen got one." Thomas said as Cyrion regarded him without another motion of his body, "She was born a rat and died a rat...hopefully the darkspawn mounted her plentifully if only to put her to some use. She's probably down in Ostagar ruins as a festering shiveled corpse whom only the flies shall mourn."

"You son of a bitch! That's a Grey Warden that you're badmouthing you little-"

"Shianni!" Nessa warned, holding back her angered fellow elf, "Calm down...there's nothing we can do."

"You should listen to your friend, she speaks the truth." Shianni growled as Thomas turned back to the quiet Cyrion, "What is wrong elf? Are your ears becoming as wrinkled as your face-" The nobleman was interrupted when sharp pain flowed through his body from a quick and heavy punch to his stomach.

"You don't." Thomas felt another fist slam into the side of his head.

"Speak." Another went into his face.

"Of my Daughter." A quicker fist punched his neck.

"Like that." Now the elf had kicked him in his chest.

"You little." The elf's full arm slammed down on his back while he was peeled over in pain.

"Spoiled." Another kick hit the topside of the man's head as he laid on his stomach.

"Shemlen." Another kick hit full force into Thomas' stomach as he spat out blood.

"Brat!" Finally, Cyrion Tabris stomped his foot down on Thomas Howe's skull and the shemlen lord cried out in pain and horror at this assault.

"Get up boy! GET UP!" Still enraged, the guards and nearby elves watched in complete shock as the elderly small elf grabbed the brutalized noble and held him onto his feet with a single arm.

"How dare you..."

"And what will you do?" Cyrion breathed as he held onto the brutalized man's collar, "As far as we're concerned, you are not the appropriate authority in this city. Your father is associate with a murderer and a traitor to his country and to the Grey Wardens. So long as that bastard pretends to be king, we will not comply with him or his scoundrels."

"Now do run little boy." Cyrion finished as he released the noble, "If I were you, I wouldn't be too vocal about being beaten by an old broken elf."

"He did try to warn you." Soris said to the battered noble as a pair of guards grabbed the noble and seemed too confused to draw their own weapons, "Now you'll have to crawl back to your father's palace. If he asks, you were mugged and beaten by bandits. Right?"

"Yes...yes..." The noble sniffed in sheer terror as he pulled himself up and staggered out of the alienage as Soris, Shianni and Cyrion watched him go.

"Think we should give him a shot over his head? Just to scare him..."

"We've done more than necessary already." Cyrion said to his young charges, "And I fear the repercussions that they'll have on our community..."

"Like what? A Tevinter persecution?"

"Funny thing about those..." Soris remarked cautiously, "If that were to happen, no one would expect it..."

* * *

><p><strong>Dragon Age 9:40<strong>

"Ludicrous..."

"What?"

"So the elves really did wage a revolt?"

"After everything Lily did and how she became a Grey Warden, the elves weren't going to take any crap about their hero."

"Brave of them...a shame that brought the cost that it did."

"An unfortunate reality I'm afraid...but let's cut back to the wardens."

"What was the point of that aside anyway? Foreshadowing for something that we already know?"

"I'll leave that to you Varric. For now, I'll get back to our most popular little warden..."

"Before that...what about the gift of Charity that Cousland received? If your account of this is true..."

"Think I remember something about it..."

* * *

><p><strong>Dragon Age 9:30<strong>

"Honestly, how do you put up with them?" Morrigan asked Rabbit as the hound just barked, "Figures...it's also telling that the only person who I can truly speak to...is a dog."

"Lonely?" Lealion asked Morrigan as she meditated on the grass, "You know that there's another mage that you can talk to-"

"Sod off."

"Fine." Lealion answered as she stood up, "Can't blame me for asking. Gilead went off with Gimli and only other red-head amongst us and...Lily's watching the men kill each other."

"Kill each other?"

"They probably won't." Lealion clarified with a yawn, "It's just that it's never safe for spirit warriors to test themselves against their allies."

"I've heard of that somewhere before..."

"It's an old branch of magic, without actually being magic mind you." Lealion explained, "Rivaini warriors once found a way to breech the fade and contact spirits that correlated with their personalities. Then the spirit grants them the ability to draw on the raw energy of the fade by using their bodies as a conduit."

"Curious." Morrigan stated as she laughed, "Perhaps this lot is not so boring after all."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, otherwise why would I ask?" Durin asked while Revan stood opposite of the dwarf, "Unless you show me proof then I refuse to believe that an enchanted spirit imparted the ability of magical usage upon you because of an act that was perceived as one of charity."

"What act?"

"It doesn't matter." Revan said to Lily, "I just want to how it can help us."

"So how do you utilize this new ability?"

"The spirit mentioned something about a brand on my soul..."

"And my interest in this subject is now gone." Durin relaxed his stance, "How would you access something that cannot be touched? Assuming that it even exists at all."

"Where did the Spirit touch you brother?" Alistair coughed at Shatele's question, "When you were talking to it, where did it brand you?"

"Well timed correction."

"What for?"

"Nevermind." Alistair said as he thought for a moment, "The spirit must've imparted this...ability somewhere on you...you might be able to access it by focusing on that point."

"I see..." Revan held up his hand and moved it over where he saw the spirit enter his arm. When he did, he felt a radiant energy build in his chest and flow out over his body, "Alistair!"

"What?" Alistair asked surprised at Revan's state, "You wanted to know how to utilize it!"

"Then how do I turn it off?"

"Didn't you do that last night?"

"I don't how I did!"

"Honestly..." Morrigan rolled her eyes and walked towards the group, "This why you don't accept gifts from that which you don't know. One does not kindle a flame without being sure that they do not set themselves aflame."

"A fitting metaphor." Sten agreed, "If not for how it came from the words of a Bas Saarebas."

"Wise advice, is wise advice, regardless of who says it." Morrigan countered, "As for you Revan, simply practice until your stamina is worn out. Naturally this...state of being...will wear itself out along with you."

"Alright...if exhaust myself, it will wear out on it's own." Revan calmly repeated to himself, "So whose up for that spar?"

"Then let's put this theory to the test." Sten said as he stood up and drew his sword, "By your leave, Karasten of the Grey Wardens."

"If you insist. Durin?"

"I would prefer to test out this new ability of yours." Durin insisted, "It is however your choice."

"How about both at once?" Lily asked to Revan's surprise, "Come on...you can take them."

"Why do want my brother to be harmed?" Shatele asked curiously, "Do you enjoy it?"

"Of course I do."

"Does it make you touch yourself?" Alistair gagged on his own laughter as Lily's eyes widened, "You did say that you enjoyed it-"

"Shatele!"

"Pashara..." Sten muttered in annoyance, "If the dwarf wishes to the fight the Karasten, then I'll settle for you."

"Alright." Shatele answered as she drew out her sword and shield and looked at Revan, "Brother?"

"Go ahead." Revan answered with an unworried face that could barely be discerned through the cloak of energy that surrounded his body, "But no switching opponents halfway through...got it?"

"That goes without saying."

"Either way, I'll sit right here." Lealion chimed in as she sat next to a sleeping Huan, "But try not to behead anyone, alright? I'm still not on that level of healing yet."

* * *

><p>"Really now...why not send me out to scout?" Mairon said to himself as he walked down the dirt road, "I am the deadliest force of destruction amongst us after all..."<p>

"Cause you wouldn't leave any fun for anyone else." Oghren answered behind the mage, "I don't see why that Lay Sister can go with the elf and Gimli, but ol'Oghren gets left behind?"

"Yes, yes, life is unfair." Mairon dryly agreed, "But who says that we can't scout further north?"

"Scout? I ain't a scout! I'm a warrior damn it!" Oghren shouted when he heard something gargle, "Sounds like that wolf stew's unsettling something in my belly...what the hell did you put in it?"

"Magic, what else?" Mairon replied as the dwarf rushed into the trees, "Stomachs of steel...guess Lealion was wrong about that one."

"Please...help me..." Seeing a chance for exploration, Mairon stepped further down the road and found a man in templar armor desperately crawl up the road with various serious injuries along his back that left a trail of blood behind the man.

"Okay..." Mairon reluctantly agreed, "So what's the story friend?"

"Mugged and...left to die..." The templar managed amidst his pain, "Must get to Denerem..."

"Why?" Mairon asked as the templar pulled himself along on the ground. Curious, the mage found a scroll alongside the trail of blood that the templar was leaving behind as he crawled, "Does it have anything to do with this piece of paper sealed with magic?"

"Yes..." The templar responded, oblivious to how Mairon broke the magical seal and opened the scroll, "They...must be warned about the tower mages..."

"Oh dear..." Mairon briefly read enough of the long contents of the charter to know what this man was trying to do, "A request for the Right of Annulment? Why so?"

"Demons...are in the tower..." The templar answered, "The Commander sent me to deliver the message to...the Grand Cleric..."

"So you can terminate all mages in a mad and blind massacre?" Mairon asked as the Templar gasped in pain, "Okay, that's a little too much...sounded a lot like Anders there..."

"Anders?" The templar said when he managed to pull himself up onto a tree despite his heavy wounds, "Did you know that he ran away again?"

"What? Already?" Mairon asked in surprise, "Idiot should do what I did and join the Grey Wardens."

"Anders? As a warden?" The templar painfully laughed at the thought as did Mairon, "No...he'd likely let the freedom and power get to his head..."

"I know! It would be hilarious to watch!" Mairon said as the templar doubled over and fell onto his chest, "Maybe not for you, but I'd certainly get a laugh out of it."

"You probably will..." The templar managed as his breathing became heavier, "But...could you...heal me..."

"Heal you?" Mairon asked, "Heal a man whose part of an organization that oppresses and imprisons mages because an old woman told them to?"

"Oh no..." The templar said to himself, "Maker please! Tell me that you're not that mage."

"What mage?" Mairon said as he held up the scroll and resealed it, "I would be oh so honored to aid you in this endeavor! I heal you and allow you to press on with the Maker's Will while I continue my mission as a Grey Warden. Then I shall serve as the tip of the sword when the servants of the Maker come forth and destroy the rebellious mages in the tower!"

"Really?"

"No." With minimal focus, Mairon aflamed a magical flame to envelop the scroll, "Did you leak alcohol on this? It's on fire now..."

"No...put it out you fool! Put it out!"

"I believe that I can." Mairon said as he used his other hand to send out a wave of frost that covered over it's target. Said target, was unfortunately the templar while the scroll completely burnt to ashes in Mairon's hand, "Oh no...I meant to freeze the scroll...maybe I should've warned you to move..."

"Oh well..." Mairon set the frozen man ablaze and quickly put the fire out to keep any of the fool's spoils from being ruined, "Wonder what Bodahn will pay for this armor..."

"What the hell are ya doing?" Oghren asked as he came out from the trees that he was relieving himself in and noticed the burnt body that Mairon was in the middle of stripping, "What happened to him?"

"Set on fire by gas from an ogre's ass?" Mairon answered as the dwarf looked at Mairon questioningly and then burst out into uproarious laughter, "What?"

"Ass Gas!" Oghren cried amidst his laughter, "Gimli will like this one!"

"Take out a few details and he probably will."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**First of the Travel Tales complete!  
><strong>

**Should be nearing the Mage's Tower at the end of the next chapter or the one after that.  
><strong>


	16. Travel Tales II

**Copyright: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p><strong>Scouting Party<strong>

"More bandits..." Leliana whispered as she, Gilead and Gimli hid behind a fallen tree obscured by foilage. Several feet in front of them stood a group of bandits whom raided from a captured wagon and a few bodies, "How dare they..."

"They do what they must to survive."

"Necessary or not, their actions will be harmful to any who pass through these woods," Gilead replied to Gimli, "We might as well deal with them now."

"They might have something that we can use."

"The score is still in my favor, Gimli." Gilead pointed out while he notched his bow with an arrow, "Wish to change that?"

"Alright..." Gimli agreed as he prepared Kalah, "Wanna join in ma'am?"

"I suppose I could." Leliana reluctantly agreed, unsure of exactly what Gimli was asking, "What is the game?"

"Whoever kills the most by the end of this journey wins." Gilead explained to the bard, already taking aim at his first target among the bandits, "I count 61..."

"58..." Gimli admitted while he casually finished loading several small bolts into Kalah's chamber, "Here's a bonus for this round...you get a bonus for not getting caught."

"Agreed?"

"Fair by me." Leliana said while she readied her shortbow just in time to join the wardens, "The righteous stand before the darkness...and the maker shall guide their hand." She fired a quiet shot that soared out of the foilage and planted itself through the neck of a bandit who didn't even realize his fate until several seconds later.

"You have great sight for a shemlen, Leliena." Gilead complemented as he fired a shot that flew into a narrow slit on the side of one of the armored bandits and killed them instantly due to a hit through the side of their skull.

"Thank you..." Leliana replied as they continued to fire at the unsuspecting bandits, picking off bandits that were further away from the main group to keep up their element of surprise, "I've also noted that your shots are always very precise yourself."

"It is but the skill of a Dalish Seeker." Gilead fired another shot at a bandit who was about to brandish a crossbow, "If you closely enough, you can see a crack in the greatest armor."

"Accuracy, range..." Gilead counted before he pulled the trigger on Kalah, sending a rapid fire barrage of bolts into the rest of the gathered bandits, each one grimaced and jumped up from the high powered assault as if stabbed by a sword before they fell and died, "Good for you guys, but I'm all about one thing...speed."

"I see..."

"The score's at 67 now." Gimli said as he put away Kalah, the last bandit gasped as he died from his wounds, "Your's?"

"65..." Gilead answered, "Enjoy the lead, however briefly it may last."

"Is there a reason for this competition?"

"In all fairness, it's to ensure that the nobles and Amell do not triumph." Gilead explained to Leliana, "If we must, we will combine our scores together to beat out the others."

"What are their counts?"

"Aeducan is at least 55..." Gilead answered, "Revan is probably 53 and Amell...78."

"Wait!" Gimli jumped in as he walked out of the foilage to collect his bolts and loot the corpses, "When the hell did he-"

"Ostagar...there were too many corridors and tightly gathered groups for him not to take advantage..."

"Damned magic." Gimli cursed as Kalah's bolt soared into the skull of a fallen bandit, he grumbled to see that it was just a nervous jitter that he'd mistaken for survival, "We've got a lot of work to do."

* * *

><p><strong>Back at the Camp<strong>

"Enchantment?"

"Could you enchant my staff?" Lealion handed Veridium staff to the dwarven youth, "Thanks Sandal."

"Enchantment!"

"Quite impressive, isn't he?" Bodahn asked while Sandal held the staff in one hand and a glowing rock in the other. Lealion whistled as magic flowed from the stone into the staff's shaft, "They say that my boy's a Savant. Has an affinity for enchanting whatever he puts his mind to."

"Wow..." Lealion nodded impressed at the boy's skill, "I always thought that only Tranquil could do that."

"Who now?"

"Tranquil." Lealion answered, "A mage whose connection to the Fade was cut off. Usually done by the mage's own request or if they're judged unfit for the Harrowing. Turns them into really dull folk that never express anything...can't really."

"Oh my..." Lealion watched Bodahn's face contort with horror, the same reaction that she had to finding out about this rite, "But they don't do this to every mage, right?"

"Of course not," Lealion assured the dwarf, "Chantry Law forbids mages from being made tranquil when they've already passed their Harrowing. They can choose it, Maker forbid them for having a reason, but the templar's can't pick and chose a Harrowed mage for the Rite."

"Says the Mage whose never been to Kirkwall." Mairon added in with Oghren close behind hauling a large pile of animal carcases, "Anyway, I brought supper."

"You brought supper!" Oghren shouted, "I had to haul these carcasses all the way here!"

"But I was the one who acquired the meal." Mairon added before he saw a blue aura from the other side of the camp, "Did I just see a burst of magic that didn't originate from you or I?"

"Yes, you did." Lealion answered, "Remember when you didn't block for Revan?"

"I thought that he had it-"

"Apparently he got something out of it."

**_...x...x..._**

"So that's what a Spirit Warrior can do," Morrigan condescendedly commented while an exhausted Revan leaned on a tired but stoic Sten, "I am somewhat disappointed, but at least you'll be somewhat competent with your newfound power."

"Perhaps you would like to test your magic against these skills?" Revan tiredly asked with good humor, "A refusal would be understandable."

"You think that I'm afraid of you?"

"He inferred no such thing witch, merely that you are reluctant to accept his challenge."

"And rightly so."

"Dwarf?"

"Though both of you utilize magic derived talents, it would be a bloodbath." Durin stated, "Revan's talents are strongly founded in melee combat. Which means that even without his magic, his sword and body are fine-tuned as a soldier's should be. Because of this, Revan automatically has an advantage against a pure magic user such as Morrigan. I've observed that after a time, you mages cease to use your magic as frequently and require a time to recharge and rest. During this time, Revan can easily run up to you and run you through with a sword when his newfound strangely gifted talent runs out."

"A smart analogy dwarf," Morrigan agreed, "But that's assuming that I'll allow him to get close or that he'll even be alive to do anything."

"And then I'd have to kill you." Shatele replied while Rabbit ran up to her with a long stick in his mouth, "I'll even have Rabbit chew on your leg as a treat."

"What?" Morrigan laughed at Alistair's shock while Rabbit and Huan started to fight over the stick, "You're not serious are you?"

"Oh Alistair..." Shatele giggled, "I'm very serious."

"Fortunately, we are all on the same side, so no need to test this theory."

"But it would look like such fun!" Mairon added in, with the group wondering why he was even there, "Just letting you know that dinner is being prepared...you know...food?"

"We know what dinner is."

"Then go eat it."

* * *

><p><strong>Scouting Party<strong>

"Got a live one!"

"Thank the Maker!" Leliena called out, much to Gilead's visible annoyance when they ran over to where Gimli was helping a survivor out of the wagon, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm not in any danger of it now...thank you..."

"Can you stand?" Gilead asked while they helped the man down from the wagon and set him on his feet, "Seems that you've avoided the Dread Wolf's bite."

"The Dread Wolf?"

"Fen'Harel, Lord of Tricksters," Gilead proudly answered Leliena, "It was he who betrayed the gods of my people and sealed them and the Forgotten Ones in a place beyond our world at the same time that Arlathan fell."

"I have heard of this Dread Wolf." Leliana reported while checking the man for any injuries despite his quiet protest, "Though many in my country view it as nothing more than a bed-time story that stays with you for far longer than it should."

"As with your stories of the Maker?" Gilead asked, "Forgive me, but I see little reason for a god to create the world if he so easily abandons it. Or allows his servants to darken it with their petty scabbles."

"Here we go...this had to come up sooner or later." Gimli slapped the man on his arm while Gilead and Leliana started their argument, "So what's your name friend?"

"Levi sir..." The man answered, still shaken from his ordeal, "Levi Dryden, traveling merchant and entrepreneur."

"You seem to have confused the Chantry with all human ruler-ship. Such prejudice will only weaken your great vision, Gilead."

"My eyes see perfectly clear, both the Chantry and the shemlen nations robbed my people of their homeland and then forced the survivors to choose between perpetual poverty or hunted exile."

"The Chantry has nothing to do with the suffering of your people. Shartan and his fellow elves were amongst the most faithful of Andraste's followers."

"Is that why you removed Shartan from the Chant of Light? Or did your Divine believe that it was not the Maker's Will to have him in the chant at all?"

"Entrepren...what?"

"Entrepreneur, it means that I'm always look for new ways to do things." Levi explained to the dwarf while finding relief to see a pair of oxen walking back towards the wagon, "For instance, I'm a traveling merchant who goes out to less-heard of and isolated towns for my business. Then I always charge reasonably based on the state of the town, so people look more kindly on the Dryden name and will spread word to their neighbors."

"Scratching people's backs and they'll scratch yours." Gimli saw holes in this way of business, but it seemed to work for Levi so he decided not to rain on his parade, "Sound business to my ears and how'd you end up with...these fellas?"

"As sad as the loss of your homeland was, the elves were not innocent victims. They had provoked that war with the attack at Red Crossing and for not aiding against the Second Blight."

"None now know of who drew first blood at Red Crossing and as far as my people knew, the Blight and the darkspawn were a human concern. We now know better on the latter, but that doesn't excuse how Orlais used Chantry propaganda to advance their own desires and stole our land from us."

"One of the risks of the trade I'm afraid," Levi admitted, looking down at a bandit that Gimli had pinned to a tree, "I'd just left a village just north-east from here a few days ago and found this man standing in the road. He said that he was thirsty...so I gave him some water, wasn't going to charge him or nothing...but his friends were all around me and I surrendered. So they kicked me good, tied me up, and threw me into the back of my own wagon while they steered it."

"Yeah...that wasn't really smart of you." Gimli pointed out, "Sorry, but you should've hired security some time ago or hell, got a crossbow."

"Your land was not stolen from you. It is sad to hear of, but your people declared war and lost said war. In war, the spoils go to the victor and your people simply weren't strong enough..."

"Val Royeax was burnt to the ground before my people were defeated. When it was just Orlais and the Dales, it was a war. But how dare you call their so-called Exalted March a war? The Chantry used lies and exaggerations to gather the shemlen nations against us when Orlais was too cowardly to fight on their own."

"Like your's?"

"Maybe after a few years..." Suspicious of an upcoming offer, Gimli held Kalah to his chest while Levi just looked at him confused, "I meant making your own, Kalah's mine."

"Your Chantry is nothing but a lie."

"Such hatred in your words, the Maker-"

"Damn your Maker, he's probably one of the Old Gods that the Tevinter's worshipped!"

"How dare you..."

"How long are they going to go on like this?"

"It's a religious feud...so probably a while." Gimli just hauled Kalah over his back and nodded to Levi to get his oxen going. Leaving Gilead and Leliena to continue their argument, "You're welcome to stay with us traveler, if you're willing to lend the wagon that is."

"I owe my life friend. A wagon is the least I can do to help you out." Levi said while the wagon drove out of the open, "What about your friends?"

"Leave em, they know where we're going."

* * *

><p><strong>Back at Camp<strong>

"This is enough to feed a small army!" Bodahn exclaimed, amazed with the pile of wolves that lied behind Mairon's tent even after three were used for the stew, "Where did you get all of it?"

"That's a good question!" Oghren asked while groaning from a strained back, "One minute, I'm off to take a piss while you look at some deer. The next time I come back, you're sitting in front of pack of dead wolves that I've gotta carry back to camp!"

"You could've said no."

"Shut it Aeducan!"

"I hunted them, what else do you think that I did?"

"See how carefully I'm eating this stew?" Alistair asked, drawing Mairon's attention to where Alistair was having rabbit sniff each spoonful of stew before he or the dog ate it, "For all we know, you poisoned the poor things."

"If that were the case, the dogs would be dead."

"In any case, as long as we don't peel over, we shouldn't be picky about what we eat." Revan stated to quel the feud, before he caught a poultrice, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Lily muttered while Revan drank down the vial, "It hurts doesn't it?"

"Not terribly..." Revan admitted, using his hand to caress the wounds from Ostagar that were still unhealed, "Likely a side-effect from the unnatural nature of how I got this ability...this is really something that non-mages aren't meant to have."

"Or maybe it was from that time that you got hit by a fireball and Durin slammed your head with a rock-"

"Thank you...Mairon..."

"Doesn't this make you a mage?"

"No." Revan answered, "All I'm doing is using my body as a conduit...I can't consciously draw mana like mages can. Likely for the best."

"Likely...drink your medicine."

"I already have-"

"No you didn't, otherwise you wouldn't have had as much trouble as you did with Durin. You're faster than that."

"I've been feeling much better lately," Revan assured the city elf, "Besides, I'm on my last four vials. I'm not sure what will happen if I drink too much at once. I want my body to go halfway so that the Flemeth's potion will take full effect."

"Or you're just being stubborn." Lily suggested before she heard tramping hooves coming towards the camp, "By the way...when was the last time that we had a wagon?"

"Apart from Bodahn's...never..." Lealion answered while a wagon moved into the camp, controlled by Gimli and another pleasant minded human, "Quite the find that you've gathered friends."

"I aim to please ma'am."

"When it suits you," Gilead said on the back of the wagon, panting from exhaustion, "He was trying to leave us behind!"

"I'm sure that he wasn't going that far," Leliana said assuredly while Gilead reluctantly helped her off of the wagon, "Though his joke was...mean-spirited a bit."

"Joke?" Gimli chuckled, but upon seeing Gilead reach for an arrow, his face returned to a neutral grin, "Sure, why not?"

"There isn't much ahead of us." Gilead reported to the others, "It should be a straight shot to the Circle Tower...we're still far ahead of the darkspawn horde."

"Good, take some rest then," Revan suggested to the Dalish seeker just as Gimli's co-driver fell from the wagon, "And you are sir?"

"A very grateful soul," The man said while Alistair helped him to his feet, "Pardon me, but you're all Grey Wardens? Aren't you?"

"How can you tell?"

"Those pendants," The man said, pointing to the pendents on the necks of the wardens, "Only Grey Warden's wear that, something to do with your initiation..."

"Maybe we killed a Grey Wardens and took them for ourselves?"

"Plus, you match the rumors." The man said to Gimli, "I found a woman from Lothering who mentioned Grey Wardens passing through. She said some of them were outlandish: a dalish archer, a dwarf with an unorthodox weapon, a blue haired elven girl fighting alongside a Qunari; and a Rivani man...plus, you look familar to me..."

"I don't believe that we've ever met...But I am Revan Cousland, Grey Warden of Ferelden."

"Where are my manners, the name's Levi." The man said, offering his hand which was shaken by Revan, "Levi Dryden."

"Dryden?"

"Did Duncan ever mention me?" Levi asked, "Levi of the Coins? Levi the Trader?"

"Were you Levi the Priest too?"

"My father thought I'd be a good brother..." Levi answered Shatele, "Then the occupation happened and father didn't feel to keen towards the Chantry..."

"Why so?"

"That's his business," Revan said to Leliana, "Alistair? Did Duncan ever say anything about Levi?"

"He did say something about meeting you and that there was unfinished business between the two of you. But not much else..."

"Dryden..." Shatele muttered to herself, "Your name is a black spot in this country. Didn't your family lose it's house and title for leading the rebellion at Soldier's Peak?"

"But Teryn Cousland's daughter should be well aware that in politics things are seldom as they appear."

"Fair enough. However, this country will be least safe with it's current leadership, less so for anyone bearing the Dryden name. Loghain already killed the rightful king, so I'm certain that he'll kill you too."

"Same for those with the Cousland name. Say what you will about my family, but we're ardent warden supporters and have been since the beginning."

"About time..." Lily muttered, a sentiment that many other wardens agreed with, "And it looks like you're sticking us?"

"If you don't mind...It won't be for long or for charity. I've made a great deal in coin and equipment during my travels and I'm more than willing to share with all of you for a reasonably reduced price."

"Would you mind carrying those in your wagon?" Mairon asked while to his recent catch, "Don't worry, they'll stay the way they are, least till supper and lunch...and maybe even nighttime snack...midnight snack...pre-dawn snack...and what the hell? Breakfast as well."

"Ah...I suppose..." Levi answered, hesitant to ask where Mairon had gotten those wolf corpses, "And I've got an offer for you as well, one that will help all of us. See...I've been looking for you lot. Duncan promised that together we'd look for something important for the wardens. And for me."

**_x...x...x...x...x...x_**

"Access to Soldier's Peak?"

"Yes," Gimli answered Gilead, "Apparently, the man even mapped a secret pass that would allow him to go in. Duncan promised to help him, but he never got the chance."

"No warden has ever set foot there since Sophia's rebellion." Alistair added, "If Levi's telling the truth, then we could reclaim the keep and use it as a gathering point."

"For what?"

"Our armies of course." Alistair answered, bringing out a map of Ferelden and marking an area south and west of Highever where Soldier's Peak was supposed to be, "Right now, we need to start thinking loog term about this business. It will take months, perhaps more than a year to find everyone on this treaty and then solve the business with the Civil War. So we need to find a place where our forces can marshal free of influence from outside parties. Soldier's Peak is perfect! It's a defensible fortress, it took the entirety of the king's army to take the castle after several months...and it wasn't even the highest number of defenders that it could hold. Any army that we gather would be well secured against Loghain, Howe, or the darkspawn."

"Seeing as that Loghain is in the midst of Civil War...he would never be able to assemble a dedicated force to take the keep. Especially with those who will be gathering there."

"And it's opposite of where the darkspawn advance." Gilead moved his hand over the Korcari Wilds to compare them to the northern lands, "This seems fitting, assuming that we'll be able to repair whatever damage that it still has."

"This is a sound course of action to consider." Revan agreed, "First, we need to gain the word of the Circle mages that they will aid us. No sense in taking a castle without an army to fill it."

"What about Levi's great-great grandmother?" Shatele inquired, "Do you think we'll find proof that will clear his family's name?"

"It has been over 200 hundred years since Sophia's Rebellion," Revan answered, realizing the prospects for clearing the Dryden name himself, "I honestly doubt that we'll find anything."

"It would not hurt to look." Alistair offered, "We owe Duncan enough to make the effort...and the wardens as well."

"So we would need to make this effort because we owe ourselves?" Durin asked, slightly confused to Gimli's amusement, "Perhaps we and any forces we gather should stay on the move to avoid being targets for both the darkspawn and Loghain."

"Or...you lessen this problem by going after Loghain himself and killing him?" Morrigan didn't react to the annoyed, irritated, dumbfounded or blank stares that her suggestion recieved, "How is that a bad plan? Do explain..."

"Killing Loghain would give his supporters proof that the Grey Wardens are trying to overthrow Ferelden," Revan answered, accepting Morrigan's challenge while she listened, "Furthermore, the throne would still be in crisis. Except now we would have every arl and bann out for themselves since the throne is without an heir."

"How is that different from now?"

"Because right now, it's only two sides amidst a civil war. There's still a chance to reconcile those sides against the Blight and prove the truth to the people." Revan went on, "If we kill Loghain, even his adversaries would refuse to listen to us."

"Yet Loghain was the one who betrayed you and allowed his king to die." Sten spoke, shooking Gimli because he forgot that he was in the party, "Anyone who defends the honor of a traitor is a fool and worthy of death."

"Sten..." Revan started, "It's not that simple-"

"Not that simple? Of course it is not simple," Sten scoffed, "If you wish to save this nation, it must be united, no? Loghain is the one who is dividing, right? Therefore, slaying Loghain would end the division and allow the people to see the real threat."

"And what if it's not as simple as you believe it is?"

"Then your people are fools and deserve to die."

"That's enough, we have enough division in Ferelden as it is," Alistair came between the two to break them up, "Wouldn't bode well if it's only chance for survival started fighting amongst themselves, right?"

"The Fear of Conflict only worsens the inevitable," Sten said, "Had your king put Loghain in his place, then Ostagar might not have ended as it did, your fellow wardens might've survived, and your kingdom would not be divided before the storm that is upon them."

"And you're certain of this?"

"No."

"Then why say anything?"

"It would be meaningless to speculate about possible outcomes, but the truth remains." Sten replied to Durin, "Your Loghain did not perform his duty because his king failed to ensure that Loghain would act in accordance with his status. This gave Loghain the illusion that he could defy this station in his life and look what has happened because of it."

"You've got a point even though it's lost on a former outcast of his socity."

"Former? If I recall, you're still an outcast of Dwarven Society."

"And so are you," Gimli pointed out to Durin, "In fact, we're so far outcast that it doesn't matter."

"That's enough, everyone." Revan noticed that the sun was starting to go down, "It's getting late, let's get some sleep for the night. Gilead, you take first watch. Then Gimli, Lily, Leliana, myself and Alistair."

"And here I thought I'd be able to sleep in till dawn..."

"If you wish, then I'll take your place, Alistair."

"Nevermind, I'll do it. I wouldn't trust a vial of water with you."

"And the vial likely wishes that it could slay itself than be tormented by your stupidity."

"Says the woman who was raised in the wilds away from society."

"Yes, and that's why I've had the least close encounters with death from say...disease or darkspawn."

"Forget it Morrigan..."

* * *

><p><strong>Lily's Watch<strong>

_Though stung with a hundred arrows,_

_Though suffering from ailments both great and small,_

_ His Heart was strong, and he moved on._

How did Shartan do that? How did he continue on despite the low prospects for his people. She believed that her people were in bad shape now...elven slavery was in full force when Andraste was born and Shartan joined her due to a dim hope. A hope for a land that elves would be able to call their own.

A hope that he would not live to see.

_Many are those who wander in sin,_

_Despairing that they are lost forever,_

_But the one who repents, who has faith_

_Unshaken by the darkness of the world,_

_And boasts not, nor gloats_

_Over the misfortunes of the weak, but takes delight_

_In the Maker's law and creations, she shall know_

_The peace of the Maker's benediction._

Lily once believed that she could be like her mother, the living embodiment of the chant that she softly sang. But she was not as strong as she was...she held too much hate, too much anger towards humans...even the ones who did nothing to her or to other elves.

_ The Light shall lead her safely_  
><em> Through the paths of this world, and into the next.<em>  
><em> For she who trusts in the Maker, fire is her water.<em>  
><em> As the moth sees light and goes toward flame,<em>  
><em> She should see fire and go towards Light.<em>

Lily heard a red-hair orlesian join in after the first verse of her chant and welcomed a fellow chanter, for lack of better words.

_ The Veil holds no uncertainty for her,_  
><em> And she will know no fear of death, for the Maker<em>  
><em> Shall be her beacon and her shield, her foundation and her sword.<em>

"You know the Chant?" Leliana asked, "That was...very beautiful."

"My mother did," Lily answered, "She used to say them to me right before I went to sleep...I still remember them..."

"Your mother must've been devoted to memorize such a portion of the chant."

"Transfigurations 10?" Lily saw Leliana nod, "I wouldn't really know...but they're...calming."

"You have no shame in believing in a human god?"

"The Maker is not the god of the shemlen's." Lily countered slightly agitated, "He's for everyone, right?"

"He is," Leliana said in agreement when she sat down across from Lily, "I am still somewhat startled by...Mahariel's reproach earlier."

"You've never talked to an elf about this have you?"

"Unfortunately, no," Leliana admitted, "No elf in Orlais ever openly spoke of the history of their people, as though they wished to forget it."

"Maybe they didn't know anything," Lily figured, "After all, you shemlen did force us to forget of our people's culture."

"In truth, perhaps the Chantry was harsh to the elves of the Dales. I remember asking my mother why the elves had to stay in the Alienage...it always looked cramped and dirty...Mother just told me that was how things were and that was where elves were meant to be. It does not seem right...another difference between Chantry Law and the Maker's Will."

"So you've talked to the Maker?"

"Yes I have."

"Great..." Lily congratualated until she realized exactly what Leliana had said, "Can you...say that again?"

"I knew that this would come up eventually..." Leliana breathed before she went on, "Do you believe in the Maker?"

"Chantry...no...Maker, doesn't hurt to, right? I mean it's better to think that there is a god who made all of this and decided to leave us to fend for ourselves than to to believe in a group of gods who got tricked by a dumb dog."

"Lower your voice kinswoman!" Lily heard Gilead shout, "Or else the Dread Wolf will drag you into his den!"

"And I'm taking you with me!" Lily yelled back before she addressed Leliana, "See what I mean? When you believe in nonsense, that nonsense takes you here and there and everywhere like a great wild wind."

"You sound rooted," Leliana commented, "Much like the tree in the square of the alienage."

"Oh...the vhenadahl. We don't know what it represents, but it's called the tree of the people. Not really sure why we ever bothered to tend to or protect it."

"The same reason that we hold to our beliefs my friend." Leliana offered, "Because those beliefs hold the roots of how we are. Without roots, then you would be blown away from every wayward wind."

"Right...So about you and the Maker..."

"I had a vision." Leliana nervously started, "I was raised in Orlais for most of my life, but the city life...it didn't get along with me. So went forth to see the world and ended up in Lothering's Cloister. It was in that very cloister, away from the fuss and the flurry of the cities, that I found peace. And in that stillness, I could hear the Maker."

"What did he say?"

"He showed me a vision." Lily sat and listened to Leliana, "Of a coming storm that choked out all life that it came upon and before this storm was a single griffon...wounded and diminished, but strong and defiant. It shouted across the plain before it turned and marched towards the coming storm..."

"I see..." Lily could tell that at the very least, Leliana believed in the vision enough to act on it's meaning, "What did that mean?"

"It meant that a great darkness was coming upon the land...the blight," Lily nodded, figuring that a great storm would be a proper metaphor for the blight, "The Grey Wardens would be burdened and imperiled, with me being amongst those called upon to aid them in their struggle."

"Makes sense to me I guess," Lily decided not to press Leliana on it, "Even though I do wish that I'd had a vision about great peril and death..."

"For the blight?"

"For my wedding!" Lily shouted and lied on her side when she realized what she had unfairly released on the orleisan, "Sorry...touchy subject...people died, lives ruined...humans messing elves as they've always done...what would you know about it?"

"I've...always suffered a great deal..." Leliana said to Lily, "But sometimes, the Maker sets trials upon his servants to help them grow stronger in both their faith and their capabilities. I cannot say that whatever happened to you was justified, but it happened for a reason, no?"

"Oh it diffenately happened for a reason." Lily reluctantly replid, "I probably wouldn't be out here if not for Vaughen's want for a "party". By now, I'd probably be in Highever, starting a new life unaware of what was coming towards me and the others might've died without my help."

"It doesn't make it any better though.

"Don't have to tell me sister."

* * *

><p><strong>Revan's Watch<strong>

"Karasten Revan." Revan stood up, looking into the eyes of the qunari who waited nearby, "What are you doing?"

"Excuse me?"

"You lead your company away from the darkspawn," Sten stated, his face in a perpetual frown, "Is it not the duty of a Grey Warden to face them?"

"It is-"

"Then why are you going in the opposite direction of your duty?"

"Because we seven won't be enough to face them on our own," Revan pointed out to the giant, "With our numbers diminished, we will require the aid of allies to face the darkspawn."

"And then what?"

"Then we find the Archdemon and kill him."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"I don't know yet..."

"Pity...The last defense against the Blight is nothing more than a group of stragglers who intend to beg for aid from reluctant allies."

"We will not beg," Revan shot back at the qunari, ignoring the obvious height difference between the two, "We have treaties, signed agreements which-"

"A signature on a piece of paper does not equal an oath."

"It worked for the Qunari, didn't it?" Revan asked, "I've read about the Llomerryn Accord, your people agreed to make peace with most human lands."

"We signed the accord because we knew you would believe it," Sten explained, "That war was halted for our own reasons...The agreement is kept because we chose to of our own accord. You have nothing to persuade these dwarves, bas sarabas, elves, or even your own kingdom. Do you believe that they will drop their own affairs and follow you to face the darkspawn just because of an ancient piece of paper?"

"It's the only thing that we really can do," Revan admitted reluctantly, "We don't have many options as it is-"

"Then leave this land," Sten suggested bluntly, "If they are too stupid to see the coming storm that will uproot their homes, then they have been selected for their end."

"What about those who don't have the power to act?" Revan brought up, "Is it fair to abandon the farmer or cityfolk to the darkspawn because of their leaders?"

"Yes."

"I wasn't expecting that..." Revan gulped from the qunari's quick answer, "Very well, share your reasons."

"It is not my reason, it is the truth." Sten stated before he continued, "Long ago, a storm was heading toward the city of Quin'lat. The people sought protection within the walls. All except one man who remained outside.

"Quin'lat?"

"A city of the Qun. I was in that city on that day and went to ask what he was doing. He replied, _"I am not afraid, I will not hide my face behind stone and mortar. I will stand before the wind and make it respect me."_ I honored his choice and went inside."

"What happened?"

"The next day, the storm came and the man was killed." Sten said as he continued, "When a storm emerges, it comes from a distance. The creatures of land and sky know to flee before it and seek shelter. If your people will not take matters into their own hands and flee against that which they cannot defeat, then they deserve to die. The wind does not respect a fool."

"Then we would be wrong to abandon them," Revan countered, "Our duty is to protect them."

"No it isn't, your duty is to face the Blight." Sten pointed out, "What is one nation to the entire world?"

"You wouldn't understand...it's not your nation."

"If you fail, it soon will be."

"We won't fail." Revan said to the qunari giant, "I can't fail."

"Of course you can fail, you are not infallible, no one is." Sten stated before he turned to leave, "It will soon be your arvaarad's watch, I suggest that you go awaken him."

"I will." Revan answered when a thought came to mind, "You mentioned that a Karasten is a commander, no?"

"I did. What of it?"

"I noticed that the title shares half of it's lettering with your name, Sten." Revan explained, "Is Sten your name, or is it your rank?"

"It is enough." Sten answered though he seemed mildly surprised at Revan's observation, "Amongst the Qunari, we have no need for names. We are named for our roles within the qun. I am Sten, it is my title and my role...at least it was."

"So you were also a commander?"

"Yes."

"Then where are the rest of your men?"

"The same as your's. They're dead."

"Is that why you were in that cage?"

"No." Sten quickly answered, "I was in that cage for murdering several farmers and their families."

"Then they died beforehand?" Revan asked, taking Sten's silence as a confirmation, "Is that why you murdered them? Because you thought that they killed your men?"

"No. I murdered them because I lost control of myself." Sten replied, a hint of regret in his words, "I was sent to accomplish a task and I have disgraced myself. I have no need to speak further of this right now, leave it."

"As you wish."

* * *

><p><strong>Alistair's Watch<strong>

"Great..." Alistair muttered to himself on the edge of the camp, "Our party holds mages who can control the very elements, archers who can shoot and see hundreds of feet away, and warriors who can stand after being tossed around by an ogre...but no! They pick lonely old me to stand guard during the darkest part of night."

"I thought night was always dark?"

"It is, it's just that some parts of the night are darker than others." Alistair said to Shatele and he wasn't even going to bother asking why she was still up, "Take for example right about now, for some reason, it's always darkest just before the sun comes up, which makes no sense. You'd think that everything would get brighter the closer you get dawn."

"Maybe the sun has a shadow?" Shatele offered earning a blank questioning look from Alistair, "Why not? Everything else does."

"Perhaps..." Alistair conceeded, "Duncan always said that...the ways of the world were filled with mystery...too much for anyone living within to ever unravel..."

"Yes...a fitting choice of words. Did Duncan often say things like that?"

"Not really to be honest," Alistair recalled, "He never needed to, Duncan was a man of action and observation...he could speak when he had to, but he preferred listening. Probably had something to do with when he was a boy..."

"Did something happen?"

"Well...he said that his parents were from everywhere and nowhere..." Alistair went on, remembering what he could of what Duncan told him, "His father had descent from Tevinter, the Anderfells and Ferelden while his mother was Rivaini and Orlesian...there may have been something about Antiva and Nevarra somewhere in the mix, but a little bit of all of Thedas was always inside of him. They died when he was young and Duncan had to live as a cuthroat in the streets of Val Royeax...at least until the Wardens found him and recruited him."

"What did he do to become a warden?"

"He never said so himself, even though some of the others said that he killed a warden who he was trying to rob..." Alistair never had a chance to ask Duncan if that rumor was true, though to be honest, he held off because he was afraid of the answer, "I hope...that particular rumor was false or...I don't know..."

"You don't want to talk about Duncan, do you?" Shatele asked, reading Alistair's mind very well actually, "I'm sorry...I'll leave you be."

"You...you don't have to do that." Alistair said, taking the girl's hand into his own to stop her from walking away, "I probably shouldn't have froze up like I did earlier on the road."

"He was important to you," Shatele answered with very mature understanding, "How is that a mistake?"

"Because the life of a Grey Warden is filled with danger on all sides," Alistair explained, "He'd warned me about it...he said that any moment, any of us could die to the Blight or other enemies of the wardens...I just couldn't imagine that he'd die...or that all of them would die too."

"I see..." Shatele gulped as Alistair saw a tear build up in her eye, "That...has to hurt..."

"I don't mean to pry...But have you ever lost anyone...never mind, I completely forgot..."

"That my entire family was slaughtered by someone father called a friend?" Shatele finished, Alistair felt like he'd been punched, "Yes, yes I've lost loved ones too...I'm still somewhat frozen."

"I'm sorry," Alistair said on reflex even though it would do nothing, "Here I am carrying on about what I've lost when you had to watch your whole family die..."

"And so did you," Shatele said without offense, "They were your family, weren't they?"

"Every single one of them," Alistair answered, "I've never had a real family...even Arl Eamon wasn't much of a "father", he just gave me a roof over my head and kept me from starving to death. He was good to me and it was nice, but I felt unwanted when he sent me to the Chantry."

"My mother was considering it a year ago," Shatele shared as well, "I hadn't found a suitor, so she wondered if my life's calling was to serve the Maker as a sister. But I thought it sounded rather boring. Just sitting around, reading the same chant over and over again..."

"You'd look rather beautiful as one," Alistair slipped, the girl noticed his words so he quickly explained himself, "I mean...beautiful as a holy mother chanting out to the masses to fall on their knees and beg the Maker's forgiveness for eating Orleisan cheeses."

"You think so?" Shatele asked curiously while Alistair sagged his shoudlers in relief, "She dropped the idea pretty quickly herself though. Said something about free spirits and a cult of popular visage...what?"

"Your mother sounded open-minded," Shatele nodded in agreement with Alistair's observation, "Lady Cousland...I'd only met her once when I was a boy. Her and Lady Isolde...didn't get along all too well. It was probably the voice, but she was just so nice and polite. She even gave me a toy sword that her brother used to have."

"Really? How nice of her...What happened to it?"

"It disappeared..." Alistair answered, though he knew what had really happened to it, "I'm certain now that Isolde might've taken it to "keep me in my place." Bloody Orleisan...I was there first. But no...that's not the reason."

"That she didn't like you? What was it?"

"Because my real mother was a servant girl who died in childbirth and Isolde suspected that Eamon was my father," Alistair explained, asking himself why he was sharing so much at all, "If only she knew how baseless that claim was..."

"Do you know who your real father is?"

"It was King Maric of course-" Alistair coughed when he realized just how much Shatele's pretty face and gentle voice had made him slip up, "See what lack of sleep does? I almost made a complete fib."

"No you didn't," Shatele bluntly said, "You're a terrible liar Alistair, that's probably because you don't lie as much. Which is nice."

"How do you know that I wasn't lying?"

"Because your neck always tenses before you lie. Also, your ears point back and up a little when you're thinking about it...it almost looks like an elf's ears that way."

"That's...an odd way of knowing when someone is lying to you..." Alistair commented though he realized that he'd been found out, "Alright...King Maric was my father, but can we please not tell anyone else about it? At least for right now..."

"Okay," The girl agreed very simply, "Why not though?"

"I have no proof, it would be too soon after Cailan's death and...I'm just not ready to tell anyone."

"I see..." Shatele said, taking the news that Alistair was the bastard son of a king in a very casual manner, "Want me to tell you a secret of mine?"

"You really don't have to..."

"But it'll make things fair."

"Alright..." Alistair agreed and decided to go for something that wouldn't be too difficult or hidden, "Let's get the obvious one out of the way then...Revan's adopted isn't he?"

"No he's not, I am."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Second of the Travel Tales complete!  
><strong>

**Should be nearing/at the Mage's Tower at the end of the next chapter or the one after that.  
><strong>

**I don't remember exactly what Leliana saw in her vision, but it was kind of vague. So I made it more specific and detailed so that it would make sense for Leliana to go with the Wardens to fulfill the vision whether it was sent by the Maker or not.**

**On a barely related note, how do people feel about the developing DA3? I'm personally excited since it promises to bring back the best from Origins and mix it with the best from DA2, both games I really liked (Though Origins is the better game, no contest)**

**For instance, kind of like I'm trying to do here, mix the approval systems from both games into a hybrid one. Have one point system determine if they actually like you and have the other determine how much they agree with or respect you. For instance, some will see you as a friend but won't approve of your actions while others will approve of your actions but also dislike your motives behind them or something along this line.**


	17. Lake Calenhad: Drink the Bath

**Copyright: Ask yourself this...why would this story be on a fanfiction site if I owned Dragon Age? Just consider this for a second...  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Village on the Western shore of the River Dane<strong>

Three weeks had passed since the battle of Ostagar and the results of that war had now spilled into Ferelden.

As they hid behind a large tree root, a small group of survivors watched as the darkspawn slaughtered what remained of their village. They'd been warned about darkspawn scouting parties from people fleeing the south, but this war party was far larger than the village had been prepared to face.

They attacked before dawn, with most of the village watchmen slain by tall thin creatures known as Shrieks. By the time that the sun had risen, the darkspawn had corralled the people into multiple groups to have their fates decided.

Thankfully, all of the children and most of the young men and women had already been sent north several days before the attack. But the darkspawn had no pity on the remainder. They separated the men from the women and made the men watch as they stripped the women of all ages of their garments, forcefully probed them and did one of two things that sickened them. They either killed the women and threw them into to hungry Blight Wolves that immediately began to rip apart their bodies or they stabbed the shoulder of the woman and had her thrown into another group.

The latter group were mainly the remainder of the young women who'd stayed with the village while the former were the old, widows, married and older matured women. Fearing what would happen to his fiancee, a young man charged from the men in an attempt to save her. The man was soundly kicked down, humiliated and then eaten alive by a Bear infected by the Blight.

While a smaller group of darkspawn took the chosen girls out of the village, the remainder went to work, immediately slaughtering the broken men that they had initially gathered and pillaged the village for any survivors.

Amongst these survivors were a small band who ran from the tree root to a sheer drop towards the River Dane.

"You have to Rois!" The young man shouted to his lover, the latter refusing to jump for the river and try to swim away from the darkspawn, "If you don't jump then you'll die!"

"But what about you Jace?" The young woman asked, "I won't leave you!"

"Woman! The reason that we're in this situation is because you didn't leave with the first caravan!" Jace pointed out almost aggrevated with this woman now, "You even jumped from the wagon and ran back! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"But I wanted to be with you!" Rois protested while the third survivor looked on while a fourth survivor shook her head and jumped for the river, "I'd rather die than live the rest of my life separated from you...never knowing if you were alive or dead..."

"That's sweet of you and I do appreciate it..." Jace said to his lover, "But I have a feeling that if I would've been better off on my own if you'd stayed with the caravan. Now here I am...risking my life to look after you or else I'm a damned bastard!"

"Well don't go out of your way or anything!" Rois yelled back, the third survivor couldn't believe that they were going at it again, "It's not as though you have to worry about being captured and ravished by these demons!"

"If you were so worried then why did you come back to a village that you knew they were going to attack!"

"Will the two of you pint down!" Even as the Village Drunk he still had enough of his facilities intact to remember that survival was a good thing and these two weren't making it any easier, "It's awfully quiet right now..."

"Maybe they're gone..." Rois muttered, "We can get out of this alive-" That was when Jace pushed her over the cliff towards the river and turned away,

"What did you do that for?"

"She wouldn't leave by herself, so I made the choice for her..." Jace stated, "One day, she'll thank me for what I did..."

"That isn't very likely..."

"Why?"

"She's been caught by darkspawn." The village drunk pointed out, bringing Jace's attention to the genlock who jumped up and down with Rois in it's arms, "Look at her shriek! I know that I should be feeling sorry for the lass, but her whinny voice and her frail limbs got my friends killed!"

"Same for mine...and another lass that I could've chosen over her..." Jace reluctantly admitted, even though he didn't want wish any ill fate on Rois, "I guess we have a chance at just lying low?"

"That we do. Looks like the darkspawn are leaving anyway."

"Guess they've been filled huh?" Jace asked just before bonny appendix pierced through his chest, "Andraste's firm bossum..."

"Ah..." The drunk remained still while Jace was lifted up in the air by a now visible Shriek and had his head impaled by the creature's other wrist-spike. To his relief, the creature walked off with the twitching body of the young man, seemingly ignoring the petrified drunk, "Maker...if this doesn't make me stop drinking...I don't think nothing ever will..."

**x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x**

An hour passed as the darkspawn piled bodies of stragglers and feasted on their lifeless flesh. A few unfortunate survivors were thrown onto the pile anyway and left unable to prevent the darkspawn from ripping off their weakened limbs or biting into their necks and prying them off of their heads.

Under the guidance of their darkspawn alphas, the creatures also gathered left over weapons and armor that could be studied by prisoners with the skill to replicate or strengthen them. This village had little, since most of the village's soldiers had been called away by the local bann. They also took any coinage, gold or silver, that could be taken back to the Deeps and melted into something more useful for the horde. After all, the darkspawn had no comprehension, desire, or need for money. If they want something, be it land or the life of an enemy then they just take it themselves.

Amongst the alphas of the war party was their leader, an Alpha who had been trained and appointed as commander by the Archdemon's Runic guards. Once a sworn enemy of it's kind, the warriors occassionally chose an alpha or emissary to personally test. If the test was failed, then the darkspawn was killed and it's life force fed to the power of the Runic Ones. If they passed, as this commander had, then they were trained in ways that distinguished them and strengthened them above others of their kind.

Now this Commander had been sent forth as an advanced war party to prepare the way for the horde's advance. The southern portions of this land had nearly been exhausted by now and the Archdemon was ready to move northward. Especially with word that the humans of this land had amassed to make war with each other due to their defeat at the fortress of Ostagar.

This Hurlock Commander had been at Ostagar, it had watched both it's brethren and the Runic Ones cut down the humans and the sworn enemy of it's kind, the Grey Wardens. Strangely, it had recalled seeing a massive dragon fly upon the Fortress' tower and then fly away with bodies in it's claws, but thought little of it. It thought of little truly, not that it couldn't, it just didn't care.

It sniffed the ear as it felt something familiar draw near the village. It had smelt this stench from the body of the Grey Warden that it killed...it was the smell of their blood.

The Grey Wardens lived.

It turned in place and saw a single warrior approach, flanked only by a human war dog that growled viciously. The Commander narrowed it's eyes, it's visage hidden by the horned helm that it wore upon it's head.

The Grey Warden in question was a man with dark skin and short black hair tied at the back of his skull. He wore armor that appeared to be of Veridium Quality, had a sword in his right hand and a long broad-knife in the shield arm. A shield emblazed with an icon of two branches that intersected at their roots.

The Commander hissed while two blight wolves came up and flanked the Warden. The wolves sprang upon the Warden, one was tackled down by the mabari and had it's throat ripped out by the feral dog. The other was decapitated by a single slash of the Warden's sword and raised up his shield in time to block the Commander's overhead chop from it's double-bladed Greatsword.

The Commander felt the Warden's knife cut across it's helm, an essence of power flowed through that the Commander saw alarming. The Alpha slashed down, watching as the Warden spun to block the attack with his primary sword and cut through one of the blades due to the blue spectral energy that flowed through the sword. Surprised, the Hurlock Alpha stepped back and roared at the warden.

The Warden swung his shield onto his back and charged at the Hurlock, a strange energy snapped off the blade of a revealed Sharlock that the warden ran through and threw to the ground. The Hurlock slashed at the warden, this time managing to cut across his chest and allowed an opening for the hurlock to bash it's pummel into the warden's shoulder. Thrown to the ground, the warden remained stunned as the hurlock brought up it's blade to finish the fool.

This hope was dashed when the warden blocked the attack with both blades and then used the hurlock's momentum against it to throw it onto the ground while the Warden rose to his feet and slashed through the hurlock's shoulder, cutting off it's arm while it lied on the ground.

Trained to ignore pain from it's most intense to the most menial, the hurlock spun to it's feet and grabbed it's severed arm to rake it's hand across the man's arm. The hurlock then threw the arm into the warden's face, humans were always over-sensitive about being clean or not getting blood on them, so the Commander had no qualm in using this against the warden. As it slashed with it's sword, it found the warden was more confused than terrified and even amused.

Surrounded in that strange energy from before, the Commander watched as the warden broke the hurlock's sword with his armored forearm and drove it's knife through the Commander's neck. Feeling the blade slice into it's neck and that energy cut further out the otherside, the Commander remained stunned as it's head was ripped from it's socket...

**x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x**

While Revan slew the War Party's Commander, the rest of the darkspawn had grown aware of unwanted intruders in what they now claimed as territory.

Including a mabari.

The mabari barked at the darkspawn in the village, as if it were stupid. Perhaps it was a hound that had been addled by the Darkspawn's "essence", but no matter. That would make it a more fitting meal.

The Alphas and Three Emissaries however knew better. They knew that Wardens were in the area in spite of their defeat at Ostagar. That is why the dominant emissary moved to just kill the hound before it's master could stop it-

Said master kicked a knife through it's skull and instantly killed the emissary. Instantly alerted that their enemies were now here, the darkspawn scattered in search of their enemy while the elven woman flipped into the darkspawn crowd and was gone along with the mabari. That was when arrows began to fly, felling many hurlocks and genlocks while a human with dark brown hair led a charge of two dwarves, large bronze giant and a blond woman.

The darkspawn poured upon this small line of warriors, but found many of their number slain when some were lifted from the air and thrown upon the rest of their kin, crushing both under a fist of gravity. The Alphas were quickly cut down by the warriors, one had it's skull bashed in by the dwarf's warhammer, another was shot in both eyes by hidden archers in the forest, and another had it's neck snapped by the taller bronze giant.

With their numbers dwindling quickly, the darkspawn emissaries channeled their power together and channeled blood from the fallen humans and fallen darkspawn to form it into a large furious ball of blood and flame. The darkspawn fired the ball at the warriors, frightened when the brunette warrior bent to a knee and a surge of white energy flared out and depowered the fireball of blood.

Recognizing him as a "Holy Warrior of the Chant", the emissaries roared for their last trump card. The War Party's Commander was still nowhere to be seen and many of the rabble had begun to flee without the backing of strong leadership. That seemed to change when a trio of ogres charged through the buildings of the village and roared to announce their presence.

The darkspawn were almost unnerved by how the wardens and their fellows didn't even flinch. It was especially stunning to see the giant known as a qunari narrow his eyes at the first ogre before he picked up the Greatsword of the Alpha that he had killed and wielded in one hand while holding another sword in the other. One hurlock tried to stop the qunari's charge and slashed into three different pieces by the qunari's heavy swings.

Elsewhere, the ogre started rubbing it's leg when it felt something splash on it. The ogre cried as acid burnt away at it's hide before an electric surge of power fired into it's exposed bloodied flesh, instantly neutralizing the ogre's nervous system and causing it to fall backwards, dead before it hit the ground.

The mage responsible for the attack laughed while he grabbed a genlock, branded it with a strange rune and threw it into a crowd of it's fellows. The genlock erupted in an explosion of flesh and magic, killing many nearby and scattering the rest. Realizing that they were practically beaten and not daring to try and face the holy warrior with so many others to face as well, the emissaries started to flee with other rabble following along with them. Meanwhile, the ogres charged at the warriors, one at the laughing dwarf and the other at the quiet Qunari.

The Qunari charged at the Ogre and slammed his blades into the Ogre's neck and used that point as leverage to push back the crying ogre. The Ogre moved to grab the qunari, but was stopped when the blond human stabbed it's arm and wrenched it from it's socket as two thick arrows flew into it's eye sockets. Blinding the creature and preventing it from seeing when the qunari forced it to stand upright, performed a jumping tackle into it's stomach while stabbing with both swords and opening said stomach by scissoring the blades out it's sides...

The other Ogre fared no better. The dwarf waved it's exposed posterior at the ogre even as it charged for him. Two arrows flew into one eye while a bolt of magic flew into the other. Suddenly blinded, the ogre was unable to keep it's balance and slammed into the ground and slid forward. Then it felt dwarven axes hack away at it's neck as if in a mad hurry to claim it for a kill...a few seconds later, it's miserable life was ended when it's head fell from it's socket.

Meanwhile, the emissaries led the remnant of their war party away from the village. Believing that the best thing to do would be to regroup with their commander and then flee south to rejoin those sent ahead with the prisoners for the Deeps. Meanwhile, more of the rabble were picked off by the darkspawn as they fled, leaving a trail of bodies in what some would call an ironic twist for the hunters were now the hunted.

"That's far enough," The emissaries halted when they saw a single warden stand in their path. The warden was bloodied, but much of the blood was not his. It likely belonged to the helmed hurlock head that he held in his hand. The Warden threw the head at the emissaries, proof that he had felled their commander. Just as the emissaries were prepared to avenge their leader, they saw the elven woman from before leap over the group and kick down a bottle filled with a red liquid...

**x...x...x...x...x...x...x...x**

"Maker's Breath..." Levi breathed in amazement at the handiwork of the wardens, "Nicely done wardens!"

"I told ya we were in good hands," Bodahn said while he, Sandal and Levi watched the wardens clean up the remaining darkspawn while the merchants hid within their wagons and watched, "The wardens and their friends are formidable folk. Really makes me glad to be on their side."

"I'm not surprised." Levi agreed, "It's one thing to be told about the wardens and another to see em in action first hand. Those darkspawn hardly stood a chance."

"A pity too," Bodahn added, "With the gear that they had, they would've been able to put up a better fight than they did. Guess that's why Brosca took out this first hurlock." Bodahn jumped from the wagon and kicked the hurlock alpha that lied dead with a bolt pierced through the socket of it's helmet.

"This is the first time that I've seen darkspawn..." Levi said while he got out of the wagon, "Well...this up close. Any other time, it's been from a distance. If I had any doubts that they could be killed, these corpses just about silenced those fears."

"Right you are, though I still prefer to face them on the open surface than in the underground." Bodahn reminesced, "Down there, the smaller ones are more crafty, more organized, more deadly. Up here, you can surround and divide them, just as long as the shrieks and ogres don't kill you first."

"Shrieks? Ogres?" Levi looked over to a large horned darkspawn that Sten messily pulled his sword from, "I take it that the big ones are the ogres?"

"Good guess!" Bodahn chuckled, "Can take out a dozen men before they die...but underground it's easier to elude them since they're so large...one of the few times that it's great to be so small."

"I can imagine..."

"The tall thin ones are Shrieks," Bodahn went on, pointing out the thin corpse that lied against a wagon, "Deadly ones, especially when mixed with the others. They attack you quietly from places that you thought were safe and then rip you apart..."

"Oh my..."

"The short ones are Genlocks and the others are Hurlocks. Nothing to say about them, except that you don't want to be alone against a group of them. Unless you're one of our friends here of course."

"Right...that goes without saying." Levi was certain that any travelers who passed by this village would be just as amazed as he was at the amount of slain darkspawn that littered this area, "Is that every type of darkspawn?"

"Other than the Archdemon?" Levi gulped, having somewhat forgot about that one, "That about covers the ones that I've heard of. Maybe the wardens would know more about that."

"More about what?" A blood covered Alistair asked when he walked over to the merchants and held something out to Bodahn, "By the way, I found this belt."

"And?"

"How much is it worth?" Alistair asked while Bodahn grabbed it as if not noticing the blood that it was covered in, "I didn't think that it would be worth a lot-"

"Twenty silvers."

"Not bad." Alistair nodded, expecting a fair arrangment, "How much do you want it for?"

"Eight silvers." Alistair's face remained blank, "Maybe if there wasn't blood all over it, I'd give you twelve...but..."

"And you?"

"I don't buy belts."

"Not convinced?" Bodahn asked the wearied ex-templar, while bringing out an item of his own, "Are sure that you don't want to trade for this hat?"

"Oh fine..."

* * *

><p>"Poor Alistair..." Varric laughed, "If only he knew to never deal lightly with merchants."<p>

"He had to learn somehow right?" The Orator pointed out, "Doesn't seem like the wardens had much trouble once they left Lothering."

"Which I find odd." Cassandra spoke, suspicious of how much of this man's story was factual and how much was hyperbole, "They never encountered the Civil War?"

"The Civil War was in it's early stages," The Orator explained, "Banns and Arls still hoped that the Teryn would see reason and the Teryn hoped that the Bannorn would stand down."

"All while the darkspawn were banging on their doors? Makes me wonder how Ferelden ever lasted as long as it did."

"And Loghain remained unaware of the Grey Wardens survival?"

"Not for long from what a friend of Isabella told me."

"You found a spoiler?"

"More like a hint, I can still enjoy the tale...keep going friend."

"Not all was fun and fancy free..." The Orator began, "Elsewhere in Ferelden, nefariously paranoid forces made their plans against the wardens."

* * *

><p><strong>Royal Palace, <strong>**Denerem **

Teryn of Gwaren and Current Regent of Ferelden, Loghain Mac Tir had a heavy burden to carry.

Whether the Grey Wardens were correct about a new blight or if this was a large darkspawn incursion, the darkspawn were spreading throughout the southern lands. Without a united army to stop them, they practically dominated the south with only West Hill in any position to put up a moderate defense.

However, the chances for a united army had greatly diminished in the past few weeks. There would be war, a civil strife amongst Fereldens while the Orleisans laugh as they watch and eat their filthy cheeses. The Bannorn would have to yield to his authority or the darkspawn would leave much of Ferelden ruined.

If not all of it.

"Loghain," Rendon Howe stepped into the regent's office and hastily sat on a broken chair that Loghain had thrown earlier, "The rumors are true after all. A group of grey wardens did survive and they're traveling through the bannorn."

"Do you have a description Howe?"

"Yes." Rendon answered while keeping the damaged chair perfectly balanced thought it only had one leg, "Two dwarves, both exiles from Orzammar; a dalish elf without their traditional markings; a mage who fights without a staff; the city elf that killed Urien's son and guards; a templar named Alistair; and...Bryce's younger son..."

"Do I hear fear in your voice?" Loghain poked his head around in time to see Rendon lose balance and land on his feet while the chair fell to the floor, "Do they travel alone?"

"No." Rendon stated while retaining his composure, "They've gathered a group of companions including a qunari who they broke out of Chantry Custody."

"Where were they last sighted?"

"Lothering," Rendon continued, "They killed all but one of the soldiers you sent that way."

"Yes..." Loghain chuckled to himself, of course some of the wardens would survive, for better or ill, Cailan's over-reliance on the wardens had added another thorn to his steps, "First the Civil War and now the wardens...I trust that you can attend to this?"

"I'm afraid that my hands are tied Loghain," Howe confessed, "But...I have procured "skilled" assistance to this regard."

"Assistance?"

"He was expensive to procure," "But I assure you that he will be worth every sovereign-"

"Oh my Isabella..." Loghain heard an admittingly attractive male voice with an Antivan accent say from the other side of Loghain's closed office door, "I don't care if you're barren, one way or another, you shall have my children..."

"You're welcome to try you saucy elf you!" The door slammed open, revealing a tattooed elf and Rivaini woman whom Loghain had "known" embraced with their arms and tongues and loosing articles of clothing as they went along, "In front of nobles? Zevran you dog!"

"What is this?" A fuming Anora asked when she stepped into the office as well, "Father! What is the meaning of this-"

"Don't interrupt them girl!" Loghain shouted, almost at his limit with everything that he's had to carry, "Between you, the darkspawn, the orleisans, the civil war and now news of wardens surviving...I think I deserve a little of a light spot, no?"

"Despite appearances my lord," Howe explained, unaffected by the display, "He is quite skilled in the art of murder."

"Gentlemen..." The elf said after he briefly broke away from the Rivaini named Isabella, "Murder is such a dirty word...I prefer the phrase, "Cleaning."

"Want to clean me out?"

"First I have to make you dirty..." The elf answered his partner of intimacy, "So who are my targets?"

"Seven Grey Wardens, plus a group of companions assumed to be similarly skilled," Loghain explained, "Kill the wardens and bring Cousland's daughter here, alive and unspoiled."

"How unspoiled?"

"As in don't touch her at all," Howe stated, causing the elf to shrug his shoulders, "I did promise the girl to Thomas and one way or another, I always keep my promises to my son. This time, Bryce is too busy spinning in his grave to deny me."

"What she has an attractive elf woman...or man...as a companion? Can I touch them?"

"Sure," Howe answered and the elf went right back to his love-making with the rivaini woman. Howe and Loghain watched in both disbelief and reluctant amusment as the woman pushed Zevran onto the center table and "took charge", "The two of you aren't leaving, are you?"

"No, I doubt that they will be." Loghain closed his eyes and breathed, "Maric strike me down..."

* * *

><p>"Did they really?"<p>

"Yes."

"In front of the Teryn, Howe and the Queen?"

"Yes."

"Isabella...fun one that girl."

"Personal experience?"

"Not the kind that you're thinking of Seeker." Varric corrected, "Bianca's the only girl for me."

"Right..." The Orator didn't want to know, "Anywho, let's get back to the wardens shall we?"

"Just how did the Warden's gain access to the Tower?"

"I'm curious too. Anders heard all kinds of stories, some saying that the wardens bribed the guards with cookies, offered that Morrigan lass as "company", and even that they killed the guards and said that an Andrastan Cultist killed them."

"All very interesting..." The Orator admitted to Cassandra, "But here's how it happened as I understood it."

* * *

><p><strong>Lake Calenhad Docks<strong>

"Kinloch Hold..." Alistair, inhaled the maritime air of the docks while the group stood and looked across the lake towards the tower that was illuminated by the moonlight, "This tower was built by the Avvars with some help from the dwarves and stood mighty for a long time. It was thought of as impregnable until the Tevinter Imperium succeeded in driving the Avvars from it in what was to be a brutal campaign."

"How brutal could it have been?" Mairon asked, "From what I gathered, the Avvars were just homeless cousins to the Alamarri, no better than dalish except they once had the good sense to build this tower."

"We did have a home." An insulted Gilead remarked, "You shemlen took it from us."

"Something else that you have in common with the Avvars." The mage yawned while the dalish drew his bow onto him, "Come now...why should this end in violence?"

"Should we not save our anger for the darkspawn, friends?" Leliana asked when she came between the two, "The Maker frowns when companions war amongst themselves."

"And why should I care of what your Maker feels?"

"Because he cares what you feel."

"I doubt that..." Gilead said to Leliana, putting up his bow as he did, "Or else we would never have lost our homeland to his "faithful"."

"And for the sake of brevity, let's cut the argument short for now." Durin suggested, "How do we get across mage?"

"There's supposed to be an old man here..." Mairon said while looking out towards the harbor, "Instead, I see a templar."

"That doesn't look good..." Alistair commented, "That means that something bad's happening in the Circle. That templar is there to keep people out."

"Maybe we could get some information from the local inn." Lily suggested, "It can't hurt, right?"

"It's a fair drink, who can say no to that?"

"Your lady's got a point Cousland," Gimli pointed out in agreement with Oghren, though he did notice Lily's offended look and Revan's puzzled demeanor, "I'm sorry...Lady Tabris has a point, plus, we could always find some volunteers in case recruiting the mage circle goes south."

"Then you do that," Revan said to Brosca, "Mairon, find this Kester and see if he knew anything about why he was replaced. Everyone else with me, we're going to have a talk with that templar."

"I will require more tips for my arrows."

"And it's probably a good idea to stay with the inn group," Alistair volunteered, "You know...keep them from doing anything stupid."

"Have fun that."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh come now! Your group is consisted of a confessed murderer, a former Carta enforcer, a volatile dwarven warrior and a dalish elf who holds a grudge against all things human!" Aeducan said to Alistair, "Trying to stop you from causing trouble would be like trying to wash the dark out of Revan's skin!"

"But it doesn't wash out."

"Thank you Lady Cousland, that was my point-"

"Otherwise, it would go away every time we took a bath."

"We?" Alistair's brow rose while he looked from Revan to Shatele along with a suspicious Lily, a humored Morrigan, an uncaring Sten, and a horrified Gilead, "You...took...bathes...together..."

"Until I turned sixteen."

"I'm...sure that it was...fun..." Alistair managed, both shocked and seemingly disappointed for reasons that few in the party could notice, "I need a drink..."

"You shems have no shame! Your own siblings?"

"You're surprised by their infernal ways kinswoman?"

"Why did I come up to the surface?"

"Didn't ya get kicked out, Brosca?"

"Thank you Oghren!"

"Then again, it is reasonable to want to strengthen the blood-line of your family-"

"Don't rationalize this confusion," Morrigan advised Durin, "Alistair's confused disappointment is just too enjoyable!"

"Did I say something wrong brother?"

"No Shatele...just not in a proper way..."

"What is wrong with bathing with your sibling? If your sister remembers it fondly, then why would you have a problem with others knowing of it?"

"Because as you saw, they might get the wrong idea about my relationship with my sister."

"And this is a problem because?"

"I do not know of the Qunari opinion on incest, but in Ferelden, it is not allowed and the very notion or accusation-"

"What is incest?"

"You don't know what incest is?" Leliana asked, "It's where someone has "relations" with a sibling or a family member-"

"Alistair thinks that me and Revan were...together?" Shatele asked, giggling at the very thought of what Alistair mistook the bathes for, "Of course not! Revan's my brother! What would make him believe that?"

"The lack of a family resemblance perhaps?"

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess Inn<strong>

"Doesn't look like anyone lives here."

"That's because few do," Alistair said to Gilead while he and a few others entered the Local Inn, "This place is mainly a drop-off point. If you're here, you're most likely a trader from the Bannorn, a fisherman from one of the laketowns nearby, or waiting to be ferried to the Tower as a mage or a templar."

"Spoiled Princess?" Gimli asked, "Guess this isn't a great story..."

"Look at them," Gilead observed with disgust, "Vagabonds...scoundrels...how could we even trust them to not betray us?"

"Watch." Lily said to Gilead as she walked in, "MAKER BLESS TERYN LOGHAIN AND QUEEN ANORA-" Lily remained unmoved while an uncountable amount of knives, arrows, glass shards and axe-heads painted the wall around her, leaving an outline where she stood with a nervous smile.

"Nice one Lily..." Gimli chuckled as he stepped into the bar, "You had to go with two names in a row."

"At least we know that they're on our side."

"Your side?" A large man with a long beard asked, "Who ares ya anyways?"

"Would you believe me if I said that I was a Grey Warden?"

"I don't know..." Another heavily drunk man asked Lily while she carefully removed herself from the wall, "Prove it! Kill a darkspawn or do a Grey Warden trick!"

"Yeah!"

"I've got one." Lily suggested while Huan moaned with a bad suspicion, "Whose your best drinker?"

"Lily...I don't think that will work-"

"Right here girl!" A large round man with thick hair and hairy arms stood up, clearly his profession involved much lifting because his statue seemed harder than it did soft, "So what's this about?"

"I challenge you." Lily said to the amused human, "For every pint that you and your friends drink, my friends and I will take a full quart."

"What are volunteering me for?"

"A drinking game?" Oghren asked, already partially drunk from his own brew, "A quarts too few! We'll drink a whole half of a gallon!"

"What?" Gilead asked, almost horrified by having to take part in this shemlen game of self-destructive suicide, "Oghren stop-"

"I'm sold!" The large man shouted, "You win, then we'll take your word for it. I heard Wardens are pretty hefty on something called Constitution."

"Do you know what that even is?"

"Hell no! But it sounds tough!" Another barman shouted while the local innkeeper started laughing, "What if we win?"

"Then I'll do a strip dance on that pole while climbing to the ceiling and hanging upside." The bar went silent from Lily's statement, "The dwarf will be knocked out enough to pull whatever prank that you want, Gimli will hand over Kalah and Gilead will give up his ring."

"Sold!"

"What?"

"Lovely..."

"You know...you don't have to do this..."

"No backing out now squire!" One of the barmen shouted, "We'll cut ya if you try to leave."

"Can't help it then..." Alistair exhaled as he took a seat, "I'm in and if we win then you'll also have to work for us wardens. If we lose...then I'll stick my head into the lake and drink until it drains dry-"

"What are ya crazy?" A younger attendant asked before he hiccuped, "This ain't anything to kill yourself over! How about handing over that shield?"

"This one?" Alistair brought out his shield, the same shield that he'd had since Ostagar and shrugged his shoulders, "If you're fine with being mistaken for a Grey Warden and being killed for the bounty then be my guest."

"What bounty?" A man armed with a crossbow asked, "Is it worth much, cause since ya say you're wardens-" This man was silenced when someone broke a bottle of beer over his head and knocked him onto his table.

"Told ya that they were friendly."

"Or at least hate Loghain more than they hate Wardens."

"We'll have to be careful, this guy ain't no push over," Gimli pointed out, while the large man and his fellows took their places, "Can't Lealion use her magic to buff our livers...or weaken their's?"

"Why not both?" Lealion quietly asked, the noise of the bar preventing anyone from hearing her, "But only if you really need it."

"You better not make me regret this kinswoman."

"Same for you." Lily said back to the Dalish elf, "Bring out the first round!"

"Aeducan was right...I hate it when Aeducan is right..."

* * *

><p><strong>Lake Calenhad Shores<strong>

"Short and sweet...glad to hear that Kester hasn't croaked yet."

"You actually care for someone other than yourself mage?"

"Is that a problem?" Leliana asked Aeducan while they, Shatele and Mairon walked along the shore, "He may seem cruel and uncaring on the outside, but he has a capacity for care and love. All people do."

"But his instinct for violence and disregard for others should more likely overwhelm his desire for love and care."

"What?"

"Simple," Aeducan began, "His actions point to a chaotic tendency for violence and murder. He's likely had this tendency since he was a child and his precarious position as an outcast in a society that fears him and power beyond many within that society have nurtured that tendency to where it is now a lifestyle for him. Likely the reason why Duncan had him recruited."

"You know why I think Duncan recruited you?"

"Of course Lady Cousland, it was because of my tactical prowess and skill as a warrior."

"He wanted to know if you'd talk the Darkspawn to death. You should try it and see what happens."

"That is impossible...you see, talking cannot be a cause of death-" The Dwarf jerked when a surge of lightning covered his armor and caused him to fall to the ground.

"Depends on which side you ask..." Mairon noted and then turned to the stunned reactions of the two ladies, "What? I just spared you a tedious speech about how talking doesn't kill anyone. Who wants to hear about that? Anyone?"

"Did you have to strike down Durin like that?"

"You see what I meant?" Aeducan managed from his place on the ground, "Any leaning towards kindness and love will always be overridden by his dominant need to cause pain and suffering to those around him."

"You know me so well..." Mairon mused while shocking Durin again, "He's not dead and he's quiet! What's the problem?"

"I suppose that is true," Shatele reluctantly agreed when she spotted her brother and the others approach, "Any luck brother?"

"I'm afraid not..."

"None at all!" A frustrated Morrigan shouted, "The man is as stalwart as a door! What sane man sees a woman walk before him with revealing trappings and doesn't so much as blush?"

"A templar apparently," Mairon answered, "Don't be offended, they're indoctrinated to not care for anything that isn't Chantry-related or lyrium."

"An irrelevant observation, though valid." Sten spoke between taking cookies out of a jar, "I also tried to persuade this man, he refused to be bribed. Not with the merchant's money, not with Bodahn's bartering, not even with these cookies. He is a worthy guardian, you should consider recruiting him, Karasten."

"Where did you get those?"

"When we entered this place I found a young boy with them," Sten explained before handing a cooking to Rabbit, "He looked unshapely, as though he had eaten too many of these cookies. So I relieved the boy of them."

"A sweet tooth Sten? That is...odd..."

"Because I am Qunari?"

"Because you don't seem like the kind of man who enjoys anything."

"And you do not seem as one described for wardens," Sten pointed out to Revan, "Though I will confess that you and your fellows aren't as callow as I initially feared you would be."

"And you?"

"We were just speaking with old Kester. Apparently, this templar is stationed to keep any intruders out of the Tower."

"Which means that something is happening in there." Mairon figured and then laughed, "No wonder they sent out a messenger..."

"Messenger? Then again...do I really need to know?"

"Of course you shall know Miss Leliana!" Mairon said when he stopped laughing, "You see...while I was out scouting during our travels, I found a mugged and brutalized templar. The man was acting as a messenger for his Commander and said that he had to deliver a message to the Grand Cleric in Denerem. But due to violent, tragic, humorous, painful, and unfortunate circumstances that had nothing at all to do with me...the templar died and his message was burned by a fire set with minimal but deliberate effort. I then stripped the man of his armor and sold it to Bodahn for 4 sovereigns."

"Liar!" Aeducan accused, standing up and grabbing Mairon by the collar of his robes, "How did you manage to get more than one sovereign from that two-faced exile?"

"Which one? The one who has a successful business or the fallen noble whose still crying over his dead father?" Durin showed a very vengeful face as Mairon looked as though he remembered something, "Or wait...he's not dead yet, right-"

"Mairon apologize."

"He did say that his father is really old-"

"Apologize, now..."

"Fine..." Mairon replied to Revan and faced the fuming but relatively calm dwarf noble, "I'm sorry that I pointed out that your father is dying and if I insulted your already diminished honor by pointing out that you were exiled for murdering your older brother. I'm also sorry for repeating this back to you."

"No you're not."

"Yeah...you're right."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Okay! We've made it to Lake Calenhad! Will Durin kill Mairon? Will Mairon kill Durin? Or will this little incident become water under the bridge? Will the Lake residents get to witness Lily pole-dance and strip for them? Or will they end up indebted to the Grey Wardens? How will the wardens get pass a much more stalwart Carroll? Will they simply wait until he goes to sleep to sneak away with the boats?**

**All of these questions and more will be answered in Chapter 18 of Wardens!**

**Also, I've put some thought into where I'm taking this story and decided to bump up the rating to M for safety and because the base game that the story is based on is already M-rated. I've also changed the title from Dragon Age: Wardens to simply Wardens.**

**The Dragon Age part of the title just seemed redundant. Wardens is simple, topical and unpretentious.**


	18. Lake Calenhad: Rowing on a Prayer

**Copyright: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>"After a fairly eventful night," The Orator narrated, "The wardens tricked the locals into giving them boats and they sailed on their merry way to the Tower."<p>

"Really?"

"What?"

"Kind of an abrupt skip, don't you think?"

"They'll go back through the tavern after the tower is cleansed." The Orator explained to a confused Varric, "Trust me, neither of you have missed anything important-"

"We'll be the judge of that!" Cassandra shouted before she through down a book at the feet of the Orator, "It is not your duty to pick and choose what you will tell us! You are to tell us everything pertaining to the Wardens!"

"Let him skip, Seeker," Varric suggested, "He'll just have to make up for lost time when we revisit the Spoiled Princess."

"Alright, but you really won't have missed much..." The Orator assured his audience, "Something about a Blackstone Irregular deserter...someone getting crushed by a rock...the Couslands getting into a fight and each taking a drunk templar and elf to their rooms...an elf singing a drunken Dalish song-"

"Oh no!" Varric cut in, "This is too juicy to put aside...a little snippit will do."

"I feel like I will regret this," Cassandra said to herself, "But I did ask for everything..."

"Ask and you shall receive-"

"Better yet...let's just get to the Tower..." A grinning Varric wiped away the tears from his recently past laughing fit, "I already want to hear more about it...don't let me down now..."

"I'm sure that you do," The Orator replied, satisfied with his audience's reaction, "Now where was I..."

* * *

><p><strong>Lake Calenhad<strong>

"I can't believe that worked."

"The people in these docks aren't very intelligent. Why do you think it's so easy for mages to get a head start when they escape the tower?"

"Less talking, more rowing."

"As you wish," Mairon complied while he rowed the boat that he and Morrigan were sharing. Unsurprisingly, Morrigan was rowing her oars slowly just to spit being ordered around. So Mairon choose to lighten the mood, "So what are your initial impressions of this tower that we are about to visit?"

"Laughably terrible." Morrigan replied, "What fool would willingly place themselves in this tower or allow it?"

"Mostly young children who don't know any better." Mairon answered, "That's why the Chantry specifies ages six to twelve, if you get them while they're young, you can scare them all that you want."

"That sounds cowardly." Morrigan's pace increased due to the conversation's topic, "No wonder they don't actively reach for older mages such as myself. They'd sooner kill me as an apostate than attempt to "redeem" me in a place like this."

"You've summarized it pretty well Morrigan." Mairon stated, "But now I return as a free mage, a free warden mage that they can't touch!"

"So why return at all?"

"Because I'll have the opportunity to rub in everyone's faces." Mairon laughed from the thought of Gregoir's terrified expression when he returned, "Particularly the enchanters who wanted to have me made tranquil because of my "harmless" pranks."

"Unsurprising."

"So what if I set the entire basement on fire...nobody died..." Mairon thought for a moment and then choose to amend to his defense, "At least no one I knew or cared about...and I did add an extra mineral to Enchanter Vinhelm's tea...how I was I supposed to know that it would make the whole drink poisonous?"

"They were fools for not checking." Morrigan seemed intrigued with Mairon's past defiant actions and how he even made to become a mage, "What else did you do to have so many call for your tranquility?"

"Summoned a Wrathful Pride Demon," Mairon answered, stunning Morrigan, "Don't ask how the wrath and pride demons mated, it happened and I unintentionally summoned it. And I may have taken a bit longer than I should have to de-summon it, but I remember laughing too hard to even care."

"Dare I ask?" Morrigan asked as Mairon started to chuckle so badly that he nearly dropped his oars, "What was so funny?"

"There was this mage who'd passed her Harrowing," Mairon related while still laughing, "The bitch was beautiful, especially to my young and untainted eyes. But she was a heavy drinker...so heavy that I wondered if it all went to her hind-quarters and breasts...it certainly would explain her figure..."

"So you like women with large assets?"

"I prefer practical sizes and proportions." Mairon said, "Your's would do."

"If you would move on?"

"Right!" Mairon said, jolted by what he'd allowed to slip out of his mouth...not that he regretted it, "Well, she got confronted by the demon and tried a water spell on it. It failed horribly and the demon roared at her while she was screaming...I guess the demon's hot breath went right down her throat because she suddenly burst into flames!"

"So she was drinking and her drink caused her to burn?" Morrigan repeated back to the laughing warden-mage, "That is actually kind of funny..."

****x*******x******x*******x*****

"This is a beautiful lake..."

"You think so?" Alistair asked Shatele, her family hound playfully lapped up water from the lake as they went on, "At least Rabbit agrees with you, me...I never liked it."

"Why?"

"Just a left over from my training when I was first sent to become a Templar." Alistair muttered and reluctantly choose to indulge the girl, "One time, I came here with another initiate named Rolan. One of the older trainees told us to row out to the middle of the lake to quicken our training."

"What?" Shatele asked, not minding the slowing pace of their boat, "How come?"

"Because there was lyrium at the bottom of the lake." Alistair answered humored from his own memory, "It was an old prank, trick the young initiates into rowing out into the middle of the lake, throwing aside their oars and then pray in the boat nonstop for three days. After that, we were supposed to be granted the abilities of a legendary templar who fell into the lake and drowned with a large ship load of lyrium."

"That doesn't sound like it worked." Alistair looked into his reflection as Shatele's interest was perked, "Did it?"

"Something did happen after three days though." Alistair explained, "We both realized that had been had and fell to sleep after crying for hours. When I awoke, I saw a man in armor who stood next to us on the water...I so terrified that I couldn't even scream...So fixed on him, that I didn't notice that the tide was carrying us to the Mage's Tower. I was still stunned even after he disappeared and the templars in the tower found us."

"Was it the spirit of the templar of the lake?"

"Or maybe it was a demon..." Alistair speculated, "Whatever it was, it terrified the piss out of me. That was enough for the Holy Mother to let me off without punishment. She figured that the Maker had instilled responsibility into my mind to know that what I did was wrong. Rolan and the older initiates...they had something worse in store for them."

"What could possibly be worse?"

"Cleaning off the path to the Chantry...and the stairs...and the alter...and the tithe boxes...and the Chantry Board...for a whole month."

"How is that worse?"

"You'd be amazed at what we initiates were afraid of..." Alistair laughed, "You...didn't tell your brother about our little talk the other night, did you?"

"Which night?"

"When I was on watch and you told me that I look like I have elf ears when I lie."

"Oh right..." Shatele giggled with Alistair joining in, "Which part? About me being adopted or your real father?"

"The one that he doesn't know about."

"Take your pick."

"He doesn't know?"

"Only father did...mother found out, but she never told him that she knew..." Shatele said, growing sadder from thinking about her mother, "Mother's family had partaken in the Civil War...they were all killed at the Battle of West Hill and she only survived because of father. But...she was struck with a poison..."

"Sounds bad..."

"It was, father said that he'd never been more scared in his life," Shatele related to the junior Grey Warden, "But, she recovered thanks to a mage named Katriel and was at father's side through the war. The dagger that struck her, cut deeply inside of her and the poison spread to her womb. Fergus and Revan were gifts from the Maker himself..."

"I see..." Alistair had heard rumors of Eleanor Cousland's difficulty in bearing children and it was clear to him that Fergus' birth was the Maker's mercy, "What about you?"

"My mother was father's younger sister," Shatele replied, "She'd gone missing during the war and he never saw her again until she appeared with me ready to come out. Mother was giving birth at the same time...but the child didn't make it...neither did my mother..."

"So...your father presented you to your mother as her real daughter to spare her feelings?"

"Yes," Shatele bowed her head, "But mother knew the whole time...knew that I was never her daughter..."

"Hey...come on now..." Alistair placed his hands on the clenched hands of the sobbing girl, "Your mother loved you dearly...even if you weren't born from her blood, she still raised you, clothed you and cared for you. To be honest, I envy you..."

"Why?"

"Because you had someone that loved you regardless of your blood and treated you just the same..." Alistair admitted, "My blood was a double-edged sword. Arl Eamon only took me in because I was his brother-in-law's bastard son and made it clear to me that I was not an heir to the throne...in fact, doing so would mire the memory of his sister, Queen Rowan."

"Even Duncan knew about my parentage and treated me differently because of it..." Alistair let go of Shatele when he realized what he'd just blurted out, "Why did I go and say that? I made it sound as if I...I didn't..."

"Of course you loved Duncan, he was the father you never had." Shatele assured Alistair despite her own sadness, "He sent you to the tower so that you could light the beacon and you still would have died if not for Flemeth. But he wouldn't have wanted you to die."

"No...no he wouldn't..." Alistair knew this too well, "Come to think of it...he said that he was born in Highever, when this is over, I'd like to go there and I don't know...pay my respects..."

"Let me know when you do." Shatele said, "I would like to go with you...and then to...my family's castle..."

"It's a deal then." Alistair agreed and noticed how quiet it was, "Have you noticed that we haven't moved?"

"We should try to catch up to the others." Shatele suggested when the two of them realized how far behind they had fallen, "Or at least Rabbit."

"Rabbit?" Alistair now saw that the mabari had decided to swim the rest of the way to the tower instead of wait on them, "How did he get into the water without us knowing?"

"Mabari are smart Alistair, smart enough to know when to be quiet."

****x*******x*****x******x*******

"There's only two in each country?"

"Yes," Leliana answered Gilead while he rowed the boat that they were sharing, "And any man or elf of any status may be taken at the Chantry's command."

"Convenient." Gilead stated scornfully, "Place them in one of two location and instill your beliefs in them from a young age. Unsurprising for shemlen."

"Unsurprising?" Leliana asked, feeling insulted, "You make it sound as though we treat mages as rats to be herded."

"Different name, different reason, same principle." Gimli called from next to the pair, he was sharing a boat with a quiet Lealion, "Something about you sets you apart from the rest of society, so you have to put in a separate place so that you don't inconvenience everyone else."

"And how do the Dalish treat mages?"

"They are trained as Keepers." Gilead explained proudly, "We recognize and honor their talents and potential. A keeper is both a traditional and spiritual leader of a clan. Keepers are also responsible for knowing the clan's ancient lore, and passing it on to the others in the clan. Without a keeper, the clan's knowledge is lost forever."

"You do not fear the possession of a demon? Or that, if unchecked, a keeper could abuse his power and position amongst his people?"

"You mean as with Tevinter?" Leliana nodded while Gilead continued, "Unlike Shemlen societies, we instill a sense of responsibility and self-control with those with the potential to become keepers. And once chosen, the apprentice of the current Keeper will be trained as one who can lead their people."

"Notable and honorable..." Leliana acknowledged sincerely, "But are you sure that it is best for your people? Those who control magic are blessed with a great gift...a gift that can easily become a curse. What happens if an apprentice or a keeper is possessed by a demon? Or...become involved with blood magic?"

"Marathari told me that it was none of my concern," Gilead answered, silently accepting that she had a valid point, "But her First said that a ritual concerning this was discovered in the last Arlathvhen. A ritual where the Keeper will send individuals who knew the possessed into the Beyond to destroy the demons that are possessing him."

"Amazing..." Leliana muttered, "I never knew that there was a way to expel the demon from within an abomination, much less slay the demons themselves."

"What's the catch?" Gimli asked, "Come on, it can't be that easy."

"The ritual was only recently rediscovered." Gilead admitted, "Before that...the possessed was taken and killed before they could become a danger to their clan...we burned the body and buried the ashes before planting a flower to honor their sacrifice."

"A bit harsh..." Gimli didn't know what to think when he thought of five worse execution methods, "With the ritual?"

"The ritual can be just as dangerous for the rescuers." Gilead went on, "If their minds and wills are not set...the demons in the fade can lure them from their goal with temptation and mockery. Then they will be turned against their fellows and possibly possessed themselves. Further, if the possessed cannot be saved, they must be killed in the Beyond."

"Destroy their mind?" A thought occurred to Leliana at that point, "Is the Beyond your word for the Fade?"

"Perhaps, why?"

"What you described was tranquility." Leliana stated, "Destroy their mind in the fade and...you make them tranquil in real life."

"Sounds better than a vengeful possessed keeper who raises trees to life and uses them to tear apart the clan and use their blood as fertilizer." Gimli said out-outloud, "What?"

"Just like that man at Ostagar..." Gilead had seen a tranquil...he was a pleasant shemlen who stood guard before a chest at the mage camp. Though he was amongst the few shems that did not look down upon him...Gilead still felt chills from when he looked that man in the eye as he spoke.

Eyes that held no soul...eyes with no life...

****x******x********x*****X*****

"You don't speak much...do you?"

"We should be preparing for the darkspawn..." Sten muttered, annoyed that he was the only one rowing the boat, "Why are we going in the opposite direction?"

"Perhaps because it will take more than a small group of disorganized misfits to defeat their horde?"

"So you are cowards."

"No. We are merely delaying the inevitable."

"What?"

"As Grey Wardens, we possess the taint within our very blood." Durin stated to the kossith, "That taint is something that is shared with the darkspawn. Therefore, running from the darkspawn will only delay the time for when we must fight against them and kill their Archdemon. However, most of our fellows died doing exactly what you are inferring. They practically met the darkspawn head on without forethought for location, supplies, or expendable manpower and were ignobly slain to the last man save for us six who were spared by the whims of the Surface gods. So, it's only fitting to take from that disaster that we must be more prepared with more knowledge of how to exploit the field of battle where we will face the darkspawn; the supplies which we will use for ourselves and against them; and the expendable forces that we will have to gather at our disposal."

"Do you always talk for so long?"

"You were the one who asked for clarification."

"I asked for no such thing."

"You did!" Durin shouted at the unmoved qunari, "You were confused by my statement, implying that you needed clarification and closure to your question. Therefore, I chose to further extend my reasoning for the sake of logical integrity-"

"Logical integrity?" Sten asked, scoffing at the dwarf's words, "If you have no logic, then you have no integrity."

"And who are you to judge whether or not my logic is less sound than your's!"

"I am the one rowing this boat." Sten pointed out, "And if I were to accidently capside it, I am certain that you will sink to the bottom of this lake while I swim to the tower and inform your fellows of this accident."

"But you wouldn't do that Qunari." Durin said, daring the qunari to do something, "You are bound by your suicidal code of honor, you wouldn't dare try to kill someone who you're sworn to serve-" Durin was shaken when the qunari shifted his weight onto his right side and quickly back to his left to rock the boat.

"Any doubts remain?"

"No, they don't."

****x*****x******x********x*****

"You won't tell anyone about it will you?"

"About what?" Revan asked the before quiet Lily while they waited for their boat to make it to the Circle Tower, "Oh yes...you climbing all over me and demanding that I...use a feather?"

"Yes...that!" A frustrated Lily growled, "I can't believe that I actually went through with that stupid drinking contest..."

"Nothing wrong with it." Revan assured her, "The last month or so of our lives have likely been the most difficult between becoming Grey Wardens; Loghain's betrayal; the Blight and...the complete-"

"Destruction of our former lives before we got recruited?"

"Weren't you conscripted?"

"Thank you for proving my point!"

"And thank you for agreeing with mine." Lily folded her arms over her chest as Revan shook his head somehow amused, "As for what you did...it certainly isn't the worst that I've ever seen. One time, I saw a guard shave off his beard and then used it to-"

"Can we get to the damned tower?" Lily asked as if she were in the same room as a mime from Orlais, "Maker's breath...we'll have to climb to the top of that damned tower, won't we?"

"Why?" Revan asked, "Did stairs ever offend you?"

"Revan..." Lily started, closing the distance between them and locking her eyes with his, "We've been traveling on foot since Ostagar and the absence of stairs is the only thing that's made it worthwhile!"

"Why is that?"

"Because then none of you shems can kick me down any!" Realizing how close her mouth was to the Human Noble's, Lily spat into the lake and moved back to her half of the boat, "Nevermind..."

"You may not believe it," An unphased Revan started, "But no one here has any intention of pushing you down any stairs or abusing you."

"Right..."

"Nor will I will let them..." Some of Lily's frustration ease off and gave way for confusion, "In any case, we are going to a Tevinter Fortress. The interior's probably the same as the Tower of Ishal except for obvious differences."

"You mean the lack of darkspawn and freshly killed corpses?" Lily asked, "The lake is beautiful though."

"I haven't been here since I was a child..." Revan reminesced, "Fergus played a cruel trick...he'd always rock the boat and make it seem like we were being attacked by some sea monster."

"Oh! I bet you were so scared..." Lily fell onto her side when the boat suddenly rocked, "What was that?"

"The sea monster of course." Revan stated, failing badly at keeping a straight face as the boat rocked again, "Scared Lady Tabris?"

"Stop it!" Lily shouted, "If this boat tips over..."

"Relax..." Revan laughed as Lily shook, "We can swim the rest of the way if we must-"

"I can't swim!" Lily shouted and when she saw Revan's surprised expression, she exhaled and just sat on her knees, "Go ahead..."

"What?"

"Call me an idiot..." Lily answered, "Oh Lady Tabris...you live in a city with multiple ports and plenty of water ways and the entire coast. But you never learned how to swim? With all the time you had for causing trouble?"

"You never found a need..." Revan answered, "Am I correct?"

"Now you're just mocking me..."

"It took me a while to learn myself..."

"How long?"

"Last month." Now it was Lily's turn to be surprised, "With all of my armor, I'm not even sure if I'd be able to stay afloat."

"Wanna test that?" Lily asked when she rocked the boat herself, "You did say that you could swim the rest of the way-"

"If I go in...I'm taking you with me."

"Just row the damn boat."

"As you wish my lady."

"It's Lily!" Lily shouted, this shemlen's chivalrous addresses were getting on her last nerve, especially after last night, "Save your pet names for your shemlen whores, got it?"

"It wasn't a pet name, it was a gesture of respect towards a woman."

"Well..." Lily refused to admit it, but it was a gesture that she had never received, "You don't have to do it all the time alright?"

"As you wish..." Revan replied, "My lady-"

"Revan!"

* * *

><p>"I bet she secretly liked the pet names."<p>

"Maybe she did, it's not far enough in the story to say so-"

"What do you mean not far enough?" Cassandra inquired, "Don't tell that you're making this up as you go! I thought that you were there from the start!"

"I was." The Orator answered, "It's just that it's pretty hard to remember events from a decade ago down to the last detail, savvy?"

"I feel you," Varric agreed, "Sometimes, you just have to exaggerate the non-important stuff to make it more interesting-"

"Enough!" Cassandra shouted, "Tell the next part of your tale and I'll judge for myself if you speak the truth!"

"What are you expecting?" The Orator asked, "You know the story about the Ferelden Mage Circle. A group of mages staged a coup, people died, demons appeared, and the wardens arrived to resolve the whole situation with more people dying."

"But not all?"

"Not all..." The Orator answered before he started again, "Let's begin, shall we?"

* * *

><p><strong>Circle Tower, Entrance Hall<strong>

"He doesn't look good..." Lealion noted while the group walked further into the tower's entrance hall and saw a pair of templars drag aside a stilled and bloodied comrade.

"Of course he doesn't," Gimli chuckled, "He's dead."

"Wait...I see breath, he still seems to be mostly alive-" The templar gasped and heaved before he fell still, leaving Gilead to exhale, "Nevermind...he's dead."

"Did the darkspawn beat us here?"

"I hope not Shatele," Alistair answered, "But my templar training is telling me that something just as bad happened."

"What?" "Rogue mage?"

"Worse," Alistair pointed to the ceiling where a templar soldier had been impaled to it with a red point that was similar to a large bone, "Blood magic."

"A little rough around the edges, but could use some work..." Mairon commented while mildly impressed. He laughed at the templar's frozen expression of fear when he noticed most of the group's disapproval, "What? I'm only studying their handiwork."

"Exactly," Alistair stated, not hiding his long-standing distrust of the mage, "I still remember what you did at the top of Ishal."

"Hey! Maybe you can try it again here!" Tabris suggested sarcastically, "Only this time, don't miss...alright?"

"Don't miss?" Mairon as Lily held her head up like she'd proven him weak somehow. Mairon took note of this in his journal from the Wilds, "One of these days my dear...and you'll regret those choice of words."

"The wounded aren't getting any better sir..." A templar reported to his commander, "Shall we prepare the ferry to get them to the harbor?"

"No, if we try to move them then they'll just get worse." Knight Commander Gregoir grimly figured, "There should be another storeroom with injury kits, find it and apply it to them."

"But we won't have enough for all of them-"

"Then make it count!" Gregoir yelled, prompting the templar to go off to his duties and not incur his commander's wrath any further, "You there! Tell the post-guards to shore up the gate further, we cannot let them gain any ground!"

"Yes sir."

"What happened here good sir?"

"The mages staged a revolt you ignorant bastards of recruits-" Gregoir stopped himself when he realized that the group that had entered the tower were not templars, "Wait...you're not templars...Mairon?"

"Good to see you Gregoir..." Mairon greeted with a bow, "Well...not for you I'd guess, but definitely for me."

"Yet another prayer that the Maker chooses not to answer." Gregoir rapidly blinked when he realized that Mairon was not an illusion, "Your return is certainly a welcoming omen, Mairon!"

"I'm here too..."

"But he's here as well!" Gregoir yelled at Lealion while he visibly whimpered as Mairon waved back at his pointing finger, "Why didn't he die at Ostagar?"

"I was saved by an old woman who transformed into a massive bird or was it a dragon-"

"WHATEVER HAPPENED, I NOW QUESTION MY FAITH!" Gregoir slammed his had into the tevinter made pillar and kept it there despite the trinkle of blood that ran down the back of his head, "MAKER! IF YOU WISH FOR ME TO BE MISERABLE THAN SIMPLY STRIKE ME DEAD AND BE DONE WITH IT!"

"Are you alright sir?"

"NO I'M NOT! GO BACK TO YOUR POST!"

"Yes sir," the Templar in question said before he apologized to the wardens, "Please excuse the Commander...he's not usually like this."

"What has happened to trouble you so?" Leliana gently inquired of the sobbing Commander, "And where the mages?"

"Quite right," Durin added, unimpressed with the state the present templars, "This is where you Magic Knights keep your mages, no?"

"Magic Knights?" Gregoir asked when he pulled his head off of the pillar and realized what Aeducan was implying, "This is not happening..."

"How else do you keep track of mages who get out of hand?"

"By tracing their phylacteries and cooperation with local authorities-"

"What's a phylactery?"

"It's a vial of sampled blood," Mairon explained to Durin, "Every mage who enters the Circle gives a sample of blood which the Templars store as a phylactery. Then they use the magic essence of the phylactery to track down mages who go missing or decide to run away."

"Uh..."

"What is it?"

"You..." Lily stumbled out of shock and slight anger, "You use vials of people's blood to track them down?"

"Yes." Gregoir answered the City Elf, "To keep rogue mages from becoming abominations or malificarim when they escape."

"But..." Lily shook her head repeatedly until finally she couldn't take it anymore, "THAT'S...THAT'S BLOOD MAGIC!"

"No it isn't!"

"Of course it is." Durin agreed as though this were a common fact, "It's magic that has blood as a component. Therefore it is blood magic. Just like how you rely on lyrium to enhance your magical abilities to stop mages."

"It's not magic!" Gregoir shouted, looking as though he couldn't believe that this conversation had started again, "We channel the lyrium to block mage spells and their ability to use magic!"

"So you're using magic to block magic." Durin concluded to Gregoir's frustration, "Makes sense to me."

"And then there's the blood magic!"

"It's not blood magic!" Gregoir roared at an unshaken Lily, "It's an ancient tradition that we use to guard the common people from rogue mages! We don't use it on anyone! We only use it on the mages for the greater good when we don't know where they are!"

"What happens when you find the mage?"

"We use our divine talents-"

"Or anti-magic magic which it really is." Gimli added with a smirk, "Say? How come your order isn't locked up with the other mages? Perhaps the demons came here looking for you?"

"Shemlen..." Gilead muttered, "You're all pathetic..."

"Shut it knife-ears!" A templar with a broken arm yelled out, "You act like we're hypocrites!"

"I...but you're..." Lily slapped her hand over her face and sat down behind Huan, "Revan...please take it from here."

"Sure." Revan agreed, "What my companion is trying to say is that she sees your practices as hypocritical since you appear to use both anti-magic related abilities and blood magic for your duties."

"Noted." Gregoir relented if only to shut the wardens up and try to bring their attention to the sealed door, "How is this going to help with the crisis that lies beyond that door?"

"Because in a way, you have allowed this to happen." Durin stated, "It is a simple cycle really...when oppressed, people will rise up and the oppressors will impel them down. Soon after the oppressors will rise up again with stronger tactics and resolve, pressuring the oppressors to press them down, forcing the oppressed to rise up harder and repeat that for a while and you have a full-fledged war."

"This isn't Kirkwall...though Maker help us if Meredith never gets over herself..." Gregoir said out loud, "Regardless of the blame, something has to be done. We've already sent word for the Right of Anullment."

"What's this about sending word?"

"What is the Right of Anullment?"

"When a Mage Tower becomes unstabilized by rebellion or demonic activity." Gregoir began to explain to Shatele, "The templar order, once granted permission by the grand cleric, are authorized to use deadly force to quell the uprising. Even if it means wiping out every mage in the circle."

"What?" Shatele asked aghast at this action, "That's...horrible..."

"So you do not allow your mages such free reign after all." "I approve of this action."

"But going in and blindly swinging is not right." "How can they know what started the uprising or whose actually involved? A lot of innocents could die that way."

"Better to kill them all than to let one of the guilty escape due to mercy." "And this does not sound like an action that is taken lightly. Besides, it weakens the nation that it is done to."

"Yes, I can see that as well."

"Care to enlighten the rest of us?"

"Gladly." Durin replied to the wearied Knight Commander, "Despite your illogical fear, mages do possess a potential for great usage on the field of battle. They can use their magic to attack the enemy, support their allies, and even defend them against other magic users. But if this annullment is declared and acted upon, the nation will be left bereft of a dependable and sizable magical asset that the templars would not be able to substitute for. Especially since they're magic only works on mages."

"What did you say?"

"Your magic only works on mages."

"Why...you..." Gregoir was at his limit now, "HOW...IS...THIS...SOLVING...OUR...SITUATION?"

"It isn't." Alistair joined in, "But apparently, we're your best hope. See, we wardens kind of need some of those mages alive to fight the Blight."

"Oh yes...the blight...Duncan told me all about that last time." Gregoir sarcastically said to Alistair's disapproval, "So...I suppose you have two choices. You can go in and try to find the root of this situation or we can all sit down...and wait for the message from Denerem to arrive."

"Oh...I don't think that's going to happen."

"What?" The group saw the Knight Commander shiver due to who he was questioning, "Why?"

"You see Greagor." Mairon started, "During our travels from Lothering to here, I stumbled upon the horribly, humorously, graphically, violently, unreverently murdered corpse of a templar, who through circumstances that had nothing to do with me, had been killed by a ravenous, heartless, calculating, methodical mage. In front of his corpse, was the burnt remains of a finely crafted scroll that had a single D left on the seal."

"Damn..." Gregoir slumped his shoulders as if conceding defeat, "So we're trapped here with no help arriving and a horde of demons, blood mages and abominations who could overwhelm us at any moment..."

"On the contrary sir." Gimli corrected while motioning his arms towards his fellows, "We're here."

"Oh good!" Gregoir laughed, "I'm so much more relieved that a band of outlawed wardens and their misfits of companions are all here as the Maker's answer to my prayers!"

"You could be more appreciative about it."

"Sorry for my lack of manners!" Gregoir shouted at a frowning Shatele, "It's just that I'm trapped in this tower trying to contain a demon infestation caused by blood mages and apostates with less than half of my men accounted for! I am a little stressed right now!"

"Then why not destroy the entire tower?"

"Destroy the tower?" Gregoir doubled over in laughter as Durin waited for an answer, "Men! Listen to this dwarf's brilliant idea! He says that we should just take our swords, chop into the Tevinter Architexture and have this whole tower collapse to the ground! Give him applause men!"

"Sir-"

"Do it!" The templars nervously mumbled as they all slowly clapped with Gregoir joining in, "A great plan if we had the manpower or tools to do so or the knowledge that we wouldn't be killing ourselves without either allowing the demons to break out on their own or bringing this tower down on top of us with no way of knowing if we took them with us!"

"Of course not," Durin stated, "But we would see you from across the shore or in the lake...what about using your magic on them as you're supposed to?"

"What?"

"Don't mind him sir, he's new to the surface." Revan stated while walking in front of Durin, who paralyzed by Lealion's rune before he could say anything more, "But the Blight is upon us Gregoir, we need the aid of the templar order and Mage Circle to fight it."

"If there's any mage still alive..."

"It would be cruel not to check," Lily added in, "There has to be someone alive in there."

"There isn't knife-ears-" A templar's march towards Lily was stopped by Revan stepping in his way and an arrow that Gilead had drawn out and aimed, "Pardon?"

"That isn't the due respect that you should give a grey warden." Revan chided before turning back to Gregoir, "With or without your consent, we need to get into that tower. What would it take to convince you that the situation isn't hopeless?"

"Look...I'd hate to write off any surviving mages myself, but it's not just my life on the line...it's the life of my men and the outside world. If an Abomination gets out then they'll spread their dark magic through Ferelden in a reign of terror." Gregoir admitted, though he exhaled when he saw that the Cousland Scion would not stand for that explanation, "Even though...if Grand Enchanter Irving were still alive and brought here...I'd be content if he confirmed the situation's stability."

"It is too much of a risk." Gilead reluctantly stated, "Perhaps we should slay all that we encounter."

"How could you say that?"

"I would agree with him." Durin said when he stood up from the floor, "These demons and blood mages are valid lethal threats to non-mages and ordinary surface folk. There's a chance that one could slip out and even join the darkspawn or at the very least, make their job easier due to the many lives that they take."

"So let's just march in and kill everyone? Down to the last child?"

"If necessary, yes."

"I say whatever happens happens." Gimli stated, "If anyone's still alive, we should try to save em. If they're not within reach to be saved...oh well, kill them and move on."

"As much as everyone is saying that blood mages are a good reason for a massacre," Lealion stated, "Antagonizing very potent and experienced mages who've already had to survive through a week in hell is not advisable. Plus, I'd have to kill you guys..."

"What?"

"It's nothing personal..." Lealion said while petting a saddened Huan, "I like you guys, but these are my family."

"Then you're as stupid as they are."

"Witch...what's stopping me from reporting you?"

"You think that I fear these broken, lyrium addicted men?" Morrigan scoffed, "These fools are a prime example of why your Chantry is a failure. These fools are meant to protect the common folk from rogue mages and demons and yet here they are, defeated and largely driven from their headquarters. Yet mages who are part of the Circle insist on being caged and allowed to be deceived into seeing their gift, their natural born power, as chains which you must endure and that you must beg a non-existent god for forgiveness for being born with magic. All parties are guilty of their fate and should be left to suffer it."

"I loath to agree with the witch," Sten admitted, "But your people's failure to properly view and contain your saraabas is the reason that this incident was allowed to happen. This was no random attack, it was an organized assault and ambush that has largely succeeded. Why waste time on a prison that has already lost it's power?"

"The noble's gotta point," Oghren grudgingly added, "But I don't know much about magic or mages. Just point me to the fight wardens and I'll let ya'll settle the politics, alright?"

"Maybe the mages did revolt," Lily conceded, "But do you blame them? This place is just a prettied-up alienage and some of them are just trying to get free. Maybe they're going too far, but should we punish all of them? I'm sure that there are plenty of un-involved mages who are just doing what they can for them and their friends to survive. You don't kill all of the puppies in a litter because one of them is sick."

"My mom did..."

"Shut up Mairon!"

"You won't even hear me out? I agree with you."

"What did I-" Lily stopped and shivered from what she said to be on the same side as Mairon, "Oh...okay..."

"I say kill the demons and kill the abominations." Mairon boastfully suggested, "But let's offer the blood mages a chance for the freedom that they so desperately desire. In exchange for service on the front lines against the darkspawn-"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"Fine..." Mairon laughed while Gregoir nearly had a heart attack from Mairon's idea, "I just thought that I'd make the offer."

"I agree with Lily and Lealion," Alistair added, "We shouldn't have to kill all of the mages if there's a way to resolve this with both parties intact. Let's just find survivors, find First Enchanter Irving and then the templars can relax and we'll still have a viable ally that can aid us against the Blight. As much fun as the Mage-Templar arguments are, we still have an Archdemon to slay. So wouldn't it be fun if we had more than a dozen mages to back us up against them!"

"And a few templars..."

"Girl..."

"If the Grey Wardens were to request your aid, you would have no choice but to comply." Shatele said to Gregoir's rising outrage while she went through the sealed container for the treaties and brought out an old document, "I believe this is the treaty, can you read this Leliana?"

"I believe that I can." Leliana agreed and quickly glanced over the document before he blinked in confusion and shock, "Where did you find this?"

"What is it?"

"If my knowledge of Orliesan is correct, that is a recorded oath from Emperor Kordillas Drakon the Second in 1:96 Divine that was addressed to the Grey Wardens." Shatele said Gregoir while the wardens and companions listened on, "Right?"

"Yes, Shatele," Leliana added, "It records that Drakon swore for all offices to be at the service and disposal of the Grey Wardens in the event of a Blight."

"Shatele..." Alistair was both grateful and perplexed, "Was this with the other treaties?"

"Yes," The Cousland Lady answered, "But I didn't get a good look at it until after Lothering...sorry that I didn't bring it up until now."

"This is...great..."

"So...according to this new discovery," Revan started, proud of his sister's actions, "If we find no mages alive within the tower, then we can incite the Oath of Drakon as a basis for your greatly donated aid to our cause."

"Listen...I am not ignoring the ails of the blight," Gregoir said, now grabbing his head due to an additional reason for a headache, "But my priority is this Tower and the abominations within! I don't care how you do it, if you can clear the tower of this crisis then I shall honor this oath with whatever strength that I can."

"I believe that this will be acceptable." Revan agreed, "Before we enter though, we need as much information and supplies as you can give if we are to be properly prepared to face this insurrection."

"Agreed."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Oh hypocrisy...**

**It's just...it's really hard to keep from seeming biased towards the Chantry when you sit and think about the stuff that it endorses.**

**It says that God loves us, but that mages and elves need to be caged off from the rest of society for the convenience of the common folk. They're both treated as second-class citizens because of something that a small minority of them may have done generations ago and Chantry-influenced law complete turns the other way when stuff happens to them.**

**Blood magic is evil, but using a mage's blood to track them if they decided to go on a run around the lake is okay...**

**Templars are trained in a branch of magic (This is canon, as I mentioned earlier Gaider confirmed this) and then given a substance that will enhance said "non-magic" at the cost of making the templar addicted to the substance and ending up as a mindless broken old man later in their lives...**

**Not to say that blood magic can't be a problem, not to say that magic is something to be taken lightly, not to say that the Dales weren't blameless in that situation...but still people, I'm surprised that no one else tried Anders' stunt earlier.**

**Afterall, we are dealing with a religion that actively endorses racism, prejudice, segregation, lobotomy, systematic addiction and mass murder! Kind of hard not to biased against them, you know? And even if you did compare them to say: the Tevinter Imperium or the Qunari and conclude that the Chantry isn't as bad as either of those two...it's still a depressing thought people...**

**Your choice for a major way of life are either a hypocritical chantry that does what I just mentioned; an empire run by power-hungry mages that is responsible for the existence of the darkspawn and still practices slavery; or serving under horned-giants that regulate every portion of your life and will kill you if you do not submit to the Qun.**

**Anyway, next set of Chapters won't be out till September-October so that I can work out the Fade scenarios and resolutions and the sidequests that will happen after the Circle Tower Arc is concluded. Plus other projects that need my attention before they die of feeling left out.**


	19. Circle Tower: Born of Blood

**Copyright: I own nothing.**

* * *

><p><strong>Kinloch Hold, Tower of Magi<strong>

Rooted within the bed of the river, the tower of Kinloch's Hold was as old as the foundations of magic itself. Built by the Magister Lords and has even outlasted their fall. Now it served as a center of learning and understanding for those born with magic.

Until now.

Now it was a battleground of death and abomination. Mages of blood and demons now commanded its upper levels with those who chose not to stand with them being considered enemies and hunted down by former friends and the Maker's forsaken children.

One of those Forsaken Children stared down at the old woman who defied it. A creature of prideful wrath, the horned demon's body was encased in an aura of fire and defiled blackness and wielded two axes whose blades were wreathed in flame as equally hot as the fire on it's body.

The woman, a senior enchanter who'd barely gotten to the tower before all of this started, was tired from her travels but stood defiant against the demon. In one hand she held her staff and with the other she held an aura of concentrated mana, ready to face this creature and protect the younger mages fleeing behind her. She watched as the Demon brought down both axes upon the woman, she dodged one and blocked the other with her staff. The ground shook as the blade of the axe shattered as her staff burst into flames as well. Seeing an opening, she fired the mana into the demon's face, searing out it's eye as it cried in anger and pain.

Suddenly silence seared the scenery. The woman gasped as blood seeped from the gashing wound that the demon's axe had left. The demon conjured a whip of flame and wrapped it around her. She grabbed the flaming rope as she was thrown into the wall and focused. With as much mana as she could gather, she petrified the demon's whip along with the connecting arm and sent an arcane shockwave through the petrified weapon. The demon howled as it's arm shattered into rock and stone and looked towards the woman who still remained perched upon the wall of the Tower.

She took one look at the demon and then at the apprentices who stood nearby, too scared to come help, but cared too much to flee. She swallowed and said a silent prayer as the demon's horns seemed to grow longer as it charged for her. She felt her spine convulse and shatter as she was knocked through the wall of the ancient fortress and into the open air of Ferelden's sky. In it's wrath, the demon had forgotten to check it's speed and had launched itself from the tower. Down both fell, smoke rising from both that distinguished them from the night sky.

A wisp of magical design flew from her body and seared into the demon's other eye, blinding the creature as both continued to fall. Dodging a blind swing, the woman saw a sword falling beside her and grabbed it. She was no practitioner of swordsmanship, but it would serve as a makeshift conduit for her magic. Still falling, she controlled her fall in order to come closer to the demon and grab it's horn. She stabbed into it's head, channeling lightning into it's body with each strike and using her other hand to channel healing magic through her own body.

Hearing and feeling her, the demon wrench the woman off of it's head and bit into her chest and big. The woman stabbed it's furious throat, channeling a surge of cold fire into it's body that caused the creature to lose control of it's limps and free the woman while she pulled herself into the creature's mouth. Below them, the water came closer as she created a shield of arcane frost to add to the cushion of the demon's head...

* * *

><p>"Just stop..." Cassandra commanded to Varric's disappointment, "Please...just...stop..."<p>

"Why?" The Orator asked, somewhat disheartened from being thrown from his momentum, "I was enjoying that part-"

"You expect me to believe than an old woman could face down a demon of prideful wrath, get thrown through a wall of Tevinter architecture, continue to fight the demon while scaling the walls of the tower with a wound that should kill any being in seconds, get grabbed by the demon as it falls stories from the top straight into the river until they made their way into some underground passage where she managed to kill it and survive?"

"How else do you explain the giant horned skeleton in their basement?" Varric inquired, "Even if she did kill it, you might've gone too far in a few details."

"I swear, I'm not making any of this up."

"I believe you, even you do exaggerate one or two unimportant details."

"We'll see." Cassandra muttered, "Resume your tale of the wardens, what happened in the Tower?"

"Where do we start?" The Orator asked himself, "Oh...I know where..."

* * *

><p><strong>Kinloch Hold, Apprentice Quarters<strong>

"Isn't there a way for you to keep the door cracked-"

"And let a demon fly through? You're out of your mind warden." The guarding templar said while his more panicked companion hurriedly closed the doors, "These doors stay closed until your task is complete."

"So be it." Gilead laughed at the cowardice of these templars, "They won't even try to claim their dead."

"It looks like he fought to his last breath...holding the line so that his friends could flee." Revan knelt next to the stricken templar and pressed the man's eyes closed, "Stay alert everyone, a demon could appear any moment."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

"Of course, my lady." Revan replied to Lily, "Do you recognize this place Lealion?"

"It's the Apprentice Quarters..." Lealion's breath had grown heavy when the group stepped into a barracks that had been left ransacked and stank with filth and death. Mairon curiously poked a body in it's bed while Lealion shook, "Some of them were...killed in their sleep..."

"Lucky bastards..." Mairon muttered as he came to a where a mage had been torn in half and his arm had been shoved through his chest, "Bertram? So you decided not to be become Tranquil..."

"I'm sorry Mairon," Alistair said as Mairon fell to his knees, "Was he a friend?"

"Friend? The bastard loved to bully me when I was young and small..." Mairon chuckled as he placed a finger on the man's open eye and fired an arcane bolt through the socket, "Well you're not getting out of this so easily! Wake up!"

"Ah!" Shatele shrieked and Lily jumped net to Revan as the mana that had been poured int Bertram's eye coursed through his body and caused him to gasp, "Where...where am I?"

"What the hell are you doing Mairon?"

"Remember that spell that I used in the Wilds?" Gilead growled when he realized what Mairon had done, "Turns out that when I use it on dead mages, they temporarily reanimate while I'm using the spell!"

"So this is what templars actively fight against?"

"See?" Alistair said while pointing to the newly animated Bertram, "There is a reasonable justification for the Templar Order."

"But they're still hypocrites right?"

"Very much so."

"NO! PLEASE! DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH THE BITCH BUT LEAVE ME ALONE!" Bertram cried out until his missing eye looked around the room and he started laughing, "Eh...I'm not dead? I'm alive...I'm alive! Thank the Maker-"

"No you're still dead sir."

"Shit," Bertram spat as he saw the shape that his body was in and saw the mage next to him, "Mairon? Didn't you die at Ostagar?"

"Disappointed?"

"Honestly yes..." Mairon slapped the corpse's head, "You bastard...you used the "Speak with Dead" spell? That's illegal you know!"

"Usually it would be. But I am on Grey Warden business." Mairon pointed out, "So speak my brother..."

"What do you want to know?" Bertram asked, "As far as how I died...I remember screaming and then some creature covered with rotten flesh came at me...I shot a fireball at it, but then it tackled me and I was on fire...then two more grabbed me and...you'll notice that I'm not exactly aligned."

"To put it lightly," Morrigan was a little too amused by this situation, "Are there any other survivors?"

"If they're are...I'm not the person to ask-"

"You have chosen the wrong corpse to revive, let him die."

"Wait! If you let me die...you won't know where the treasure is!"

"What treasure?" Gimli asked when he crouched next to Bertram, "And what are we talking? Gold? Mythril? Platinum?"

"I know someone..." The Corpse answered, "His name is Godwin...he has dealings with a dwarf named Rojek...I'd swindled Rojek's agent out of the raw lyrium that he had and was gonna sell it to Godwin for a fortune...maybe even bribe a templar to...look the other way."

"So where's the raw lyrium?"

"Chantry Alter on the Second Floor...underneath a vial..."

"Okay, let him rot."

"Wait! Remember not to shatter the vial or-" Before Betram could finish, Mairon had cancelled his spell, causing Bertram's corpse to fall lifelessly on the ground.

"Well this was pointless." Mairon yawned as he stood up and ignored the horror that was etched in the faces of many companions, "Moving on..."

"After this is done, I need a drink..." Oghren muttered while taking out a bottle of beer, "Hold on...why am I waiting?"

"Because we need our favorite dwarf warrior to be sober when facing shit that I'm not trying to imagine," Gimli pointed out, "That and...keeping Aeducan's score low."

"Fine..." Oghren reluctantly agreed, "But you owe me for very ten heads, got it?"

"Scout's honor."

"You're not even a scout!"

"Hopefully your honor is greater than your stature."

"And Casteless have no honor!"

"Urge to shoot through necks...rising..." Gimli grumbled to himself until the group heard screaming from further down the hallway, "Subsiding...thanks to the screaming..."

"Someone's alive! Thank the Maker!" Leliana shouted while she readied her bow, "Come on!"

**xxxx**

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" An old Enchanter with a staff in one hand and a sword in the other cried out to the Wrath Demon before him. He slammed his staff into the floor, creating a barrier of white light that seared off the demon's hands.

"Don't be so grandoise Mckellen!" His equally elder enchanter reprimanded as she cast a cone of Ice spell that froze the demon. Allowing Mckellen to slash his sword through it's body and shatter it, "You're too old to overexert yourself needlessly."

"Don't pester me woman!" Mckellen managed while breathing heavily, "I still fail to see why we can't escape through the basement."

"Trust me, the basement is best left unaccessible for the time being."

"From my experience," Gimli commented as the wardens came to the scene, "Closing off any escape route always backfires when you need to escape."

"A dwarf?" One of the many children huddled by the frightened apprentices and mages said in curiosity, "You're a lot taller than the stories say you are."

"Hence the reason that they are stories and not facts." Durin noted, "You are the mages no?"

"What gave us away?" An elven mage with a missing arm asked, "The robes? The staves? Or the aura of magic swirling around us?"

"As I figured." Durin said to himself, "Perhaps we should kill them all."

"Durin...not now-"

"Especially now in a situation where demons are rampant." Durin said to the annoyed Revan, "What is stopping these mages from being possessed by a demon even as we speak? Their wills have been broken by the circumstances which have been bestowed upon them and their mana has doubtless been reduced to minimal levels or else they would try to reinforce the barrier that the old woman has erected. So once we leave, a demon may decide to abandon it's physical form and possess one of these mages while we storm their invaded tower. Starting with the children or else simply take shape and murder each one so that it can absorb their power, kill the inept order of magical knights and then ambush us when we are tired from storming this doomed tower."

"Oh Durin...you and your crazy ideas." Mairon said when he came next to the dwarf and gave him a pat on his helm, "I for one, love it! Let suffer the little children to be born with magic! Murder them callously and splash their blood over their caretakers and then super heat that blood to burn them alive while basking in the screams of their pain!"

"Really?"

"No," That was when a surge of magical lightning poured through Durin's armor and electrified him. The dwarf muttered a dwarvish insult before falling to the ground, "Would anyone else suggest murdering these younglings?"

"Not anymore..."

"No."

"Never did!"

"No."

"No."

"Heh! No thanks..."

"It would be a reasonable alternative to slavery in this tower...but no."

"Yes."

"Overruled!" Mairon shouted to Sten, "Wynne, it is good to see that you didn't die at Ostagar."

"Same for you and Lealion...though I am both surprised and happy that you have returned." Wynne said as she looked over the entourage, "And you brought the other newly inducted grey wardens with some hopefully reliable help."

"Who are ya to be picky?"

"Fair enough master dwarf-"

"The name's Oghren."

"I stand corrected Oghren."

"Corrected!" Oghren said with a laugh, "I'm still a master dwarf! I came with these wardens to slash off some heads and this is my thanks! Why's there so many women up here who're like Branka!"

"Nevermind him."

"Nevermind my ass!"

"Pretty much what I said."

"Despite the attitudes of some, our allies are here of their own volition." Revan assured Wynne, "In times like this, all we ask is for acceptable skill, courage, a willing heart, and a working ear. Everyone here has this and more."

"Comforting words Grey Warden, I pray that they prove true." Wynne replied, "Doubtless, you've either come to help the templars cleanse the Circle or to save us and throw the survivors at the Darkspawn."

"How...that's really what we're doing?" Lily asked herself, "Hearing that read off to us, kind of defeats the point."

"On the contrary-"

"No one asked you!" Lily shouted to the now conscious Durin, "We'll worry about the Blight when we're done here. Do you know how all of this even started? Where are the mages that started the revolt?"

"I wouldn't know too much, I was just doing everything that I could to save as many survivors as possible." Wynne admitted, "There are Abominations and demons beyond on this level beyond that barrier and Uldred's men likely control the upper levels."

"Uldred?" Mairon repeated and saw several mages nod their heads, "So he finally had the balls to throw off his captors."

"The Maker has done this as punishment for defiling his city-"

"Keili! If I have to threaten you and you don't shut up!" Mairon had his charged hand pointed at a shaking female and strangely, no one had stood in Mairon's path. Seeing that the woman wasn't going to say anymore, Mairon lowered his hand and spat, "Shrieking Loyalist whelp."

"Bainful Magister Goblin..."

"Substitute goblin with warden and we're sound." Mairon said and casually noticed the look that Lily gave him, "Don't worry, she's just pissy because she wasn't cursed with being born as a muggle or a muggle elf."

"What's a muggle?"

"Playful vocabulary for non-magic folk with the belief that they're easier to mug."

"But it's true!" Mairon shouted to Mckellen and then noticed that something was absent from his belt, "Where's my knife?"

"Check your other hand." On Lily's advice, Mairon now felt his left hand grip his previously missing knife, "Keep better track of it alright?"

"Trust me, I will." Mairon replied to the City Elf, "Please continue Wynne."

"Yes...Uldred's men were behind all of this." Wynne explained, "Uldred fled Ostagar alongside Loghain's troops and returned to the tower before me and the few with me. He tried to convince the Circle to side with Loghain in the Civil War in exchange for independence from the Chantry."

"People really think that would work?"

"It's possible." Alistair commented, "Loghain is a healthily devout Andrastan, but he doesn't trust the Chantry or it's proximity to Orlais. He'd grant the deal just to spite the Orleisans."

"A pity that we won't be able to test that..." Wynne regrettably said, "He'd almost succeeded until I returned and revealed Loghain's treachery. Shortly after the Circle turned against him, Uldred's supporters launched their attack. I don't completely know all of the details, but I've seen blood magic used and demons summoned and...many have died."

"Twenty-nine...Thirty...Thirty-One..." Mairon counted outloud and then stopped, "There's six children missing...why is that?"

"You try keeping track of every survivor you come across!" One of the mages shouted, "Unless you want to go in there and find out for yourself!"

"Okay." Mairon answered, "Wynne...lower the barrier."

"You're really going in there?"

"That is why we are here." Revan answered the Senior Enchanter, "If saving this Circle is what must be done to help Ferelden, then so be it."

"In any case, the templars won't let us back out until we do something about the demons." Alistair added, causing a little girl to cry that they were going to die, "Not that we wouldn't want to help!"

"I understand Alistair," Wynne assured the ex-templar, "Then I'm going with you."

"Wynne? You should stay here with the others." Lealion suggested to her former teacher, "These guys are tough, but I don't think they've ever faced an abomination before-"

"I did!"

"No one cares Alistair!" Lealion yelled to the ex-templar, who shrugged his shoulders, "Besides, who'll look after them if we fail?"

"We won't fail, but maybe you should stay here." Revan suggested, "And Shatele as well."

"What!" Shatele cried in outrage, "Brother! You'll need me up there! What if a possessed ogre shows up and thrashes you around like a club?"

"Then he'll be dead." Durin offered while standing on his feet, "Your services are best kept here in this circle of disheartened, weeping and disillusioned mages to prevent them from attempting to kill themselves depriving us of our asset against the darkspawn-"

"Darkspawn?" "So it's true...there really is a blight out there!"

"Yes." Durin answered, "What? Lying to them will serve no other purpose than to give reason for them to distrust us. Back to the objection of Shatele and Lealion, another reason that you should stay is because your absence will allow for my fellow wardens to even out the tally. Especially seeing as that they'll be entering an environment which shall greatly hinder their ability to fight."

"I don't understand-"

"Don't get him started or the demons will all be trampling over us by the time he's done!" Lealion warned one of the younger mage apprentinces, "Okay...let's see...Mckellen, Petra, Finn, Keili and Kinnon...me, Shatele and the dogs...we'll be alright and just call down if you need us."

"Wynne...Are you sure that you'll be alright?"

"Of course Kinnon."

"I..." Kinnon looked to Mckellen who shrugged his shoulders and smoked a pipe, "Alright..."

"We won't be long Shatele, I promise." Revan assured his smiling but still worried sister as they embraced briefly, "I sense that you have an objection."

"How observant of you, but don't worry I'll cooperate." Morrigan waved her hand at the Grey Warden, "Even if it means saving these pathetic fools who allowed themselves to be corralled in this pretty dungeon."

"Thank you for your honesty and assistance." Revan sarcastically replied and Morrigan curtsied, "Check supplies now while we have the chance, I don't believe that we'll have another opportunity once the barrier falls."

"Once it falls?" Alistair asked, walking up to the barrier and waving it's hand over it's energy, "It's not as though there's a demon on the other side waiting to-" The templar jumped back when a Furious Wrath Demon sprang out of the floor and banged on the barrier from the other side. Alistair shook his head before he drew out his sword and stabbed it through the barrier, killing the demon while it fell into the ground.

"Do you intend to make an ass of yourself?"

"I have a reputation to uphold."

* * *

><p>"Took you long enough to get to this part."<p>

"Impatient aren't we?"

"Why not just skip straight to every major endeavor that the wardens have done? Why speak of every little thing that they did before they came to their destinations?"

"Because the journey is just as important as the destination seeker. Finding a pot of gold isn't as fun as when you track and find it."

"On that one, I would rather just get the gold Varric. No offense."

"None taken friend. Please continue..."

* * *

><p><strong>Library, Apprentice Quarters<strong>

"Question..."

"Yes my lady?"

"I wasn't asking you..." Lily growled at Revan who shrugged his shoulders, "What does an abomination look like, Wynne?"

"Clarifying never hurts-"

"Shut up Revan."

"A demon wearing the skin of it's victims." Wynne answered, "Once possessed, the demon twists the mana within the mage...causing them to form into mishapen creatures that wear the masks of elves and men...but they are as different from you and me as stone is from water."

"Fundamentally that is a terrible metaphor."

"Must you question every word save your own?"

"Yes master elf." Durin replied to Gilead, "You see...stone is simply the hardened substance of earth drained of water and molded into a shape more useful for the purposes of it's creators. Earth and Water form a symbiotic circle without which there would be neither."

"But earth is not water."

"True, however most forms of earth possess water save those altered by a craftsman's hands."

"Semantics aside, we can all agree that abominations are scary beyond all reason?" Alistair asked, "Especially the desire abominations."

"What's so bad about them-" Oghren's unfinished question was answered when he passed the first row of filled shelves and saw a desire abomination, "My eyes...my eyes!" The demon in question stood at six feet tall with a hunched arm and massive legs while wearing the rotted flesh of a human, the top half being female and the bottom half being male.

Oghren madly swung with his eyes closed, chopping into a less naked but equally mutilated abomination and slicing off it's head as the battle became joined.

"Formation!" With his head facing the inside of his shield, Revan charged at the demon and stabbed the creature through it's chest as Lily lipped on it's shoulders and sliced off it's head before landing behind it. She and Revan moved into the adjacent book shelves to handle a trio of abominations as the Spirit Warrior motioned Alistair and Sten to move to the next row. There a Wrath Demon waited, flanked by two abominations of wrath and sloth. The sloth abomination was larger, but moved slower while the wrath abomination was quicker, but dumber and easier for Alistair to kill.

In the next more wider row, Oghren blindly rammed a filled shelf and caused it to fall on him and two abominations behind him. While pinned, they and one other abomination was picked off by the three archers while Morrigan cast a frost spell on the Wrath Demon that had pierced Sten's shoulder. While it stood frozen, Wynne cast a wisp which flew to Sten and healed his wound as Alistair decapitated the frozen demon. Back in the first row, Revan's eyes returned to normal after the last abomination of Hunger had fallen and threw a poultrice to the panting Lily.

"Don't need it."

"Save it for later." Revan advised her as the two stepped out and regrouped with the others in the library's open area, "Everyone alright?"

"Alright! Ya didn't tell that they had both parts!" Oghren shouted when he stood up from the turned over book shelf, "It's more horrific than that time I walked in on my fatass aunt smooching my mother!"

"You have my pity."

"Shove it up your ass!" Gimli blew out the side of his mouth in humor, "Look...just eh...warn me the next time ya see an abomination with titties and a third leg..."

"Agreed." Alistair stated, wanting very badly to not remember that particular sight, "In fact, where's it's body?"

"I burnt it." Gilead answered, shaking heavily while he stood in front of the burning corpse of the offending abomination, "Such devilry could only come from the world of men."

"Do you not live in that world?" Leliana asked after finishing her prayer for the corpses of mages and templars nearby, "Foulness and devilry come from all sources Gilead, not just humans."

"Then why are you the cause of so much that is wrong with this world?" Gilead inquired, "The robbery, slavery and oppression of my people aside...no elf stepped into the Black City and corrupted it...that was done by the magisters...human magisters...and their greed led to the fall of the Dwarven Kingdoms."

"Didn't the Dales massacre a city unprovoked?"

"Lies made to justify their butchery kinswoman..." Gilead's eyes narrowed as they went from Lily to Revan and back to Lily, "Though you are sadly lost to the Elvhen, Tabris."

"And another philosophical argument begins," Alistair muttered when he noticed a certain mage prop something upright against the shelf behind Alistair, "What are you doing with that spear?"

"Oh nothing..." Mairon muttered as he looked around at the abomination corpses that the wardens stood amongst, "A messing start we're having, right Alistair?"

"Well..." Alistair's gaze turned to the abomination in front of him, "It could be worse."

"Just stay there and wait a few seconds."

"For what?"

"Those corpses that surround you." Mairon explained in a whisper as he backed towards the exit hallway, "They explode."

"What?" Just as Revan tackled Lily to the ground, the corpses of the nearby abominations all exploded in a burst of ignited unstable mana...

* * *

><p><strong>Mage Refugees<strong>

"Explode?" Shatele asked as Rabbit stood up from the vibration that rocked the walls, "Why do abominations explode?"

"Because the mana inside of them is unstable." Lealion explained, "Demons and people are intrinsically different forms of life, having them merge together so forcefully doesn't make for a stable result."

"Then why do they bother?"

"Jealousy? The Chantry teaches that the Maker turned away from them in favor of humanity." Mckellen remarked before coughing and then continued to smoke from his pipe, "So, demons enviously seek for ways to enter our world and live within it. Even if it means that they must possess the body of a corpse."

"Why did the Maker turn away? Couldn't he love both people and spirits?"

"Evidently not."

"The Ways of the Maker are beyond our understanding-"

"Keili! Not right now!" Kinnon shouted to the traumatized apprentice, "I'm worried about them..."

"My brother and the wardens? Or Wynne?"

"Wynne got into a nasty fight with a demon earlier..." Kinnon explained while Lealion remembered something that she'd seen, "She's putting on a strong face, but I'm worried that the fight left her too taxed to recover...and I'm worried about Mairon."

"Because he's a lethal trickster?"

"I heard a rumor...the reason that Uldred's men knew blood magic..." Kinnon said as if unsure if she should share this information, "Mairon may have taught them."

"That's the most preposterous thing that I've-" Lealion was stopped when she saw the looks that everyone in the room had on their faces, including the children, "Then again, it would explain so much..."

* * *

><p><strong>Back to the Wardens<strong>

"My face!"

"Pashera!"

"My beer!"

"You've got to be joking!"

"Revan..."

"What?"

"Get...OFF!" Revan jumped to his feet as Lily slowly rose from underneath him, "Distance...need...distance..."

"You're welcome-"

"I didn't..." Not wanting to say anymore Lily stormed away from the confused Cousland while Gimli smirked next to a sobbing Oghren.

"Someone...I need help..." Alistair managed while impaled on a propped up spear, "As in now...as in oww..."

"That does look like it hurts, doesn't it?" Morrigan asked as she seemed to charge magic in her hand and then relented, "Tell me more about it."

"Hold still." Revan told Alistair as he slashed through the spear's shaft, "And..." Cousland then grabbed the blade and pulled it out through Alistair's stomach while Wynne immediately cast a healing spell to close the gash.

"Oh dear." Wynne muttered as she turned to where Mairon was melding the spear back together, "What exactly was the point in harming your fellow grey warden?"

"Harm? I didn't intend harm on the templar."

"So why was the spear propped up?"

"To test how sharp this Ancient elven spear is and then I remembered that abominations explode." Mairon explained while having the spear snatched from his hand by Gilead, "You're welcome."

"Your people stole this from mine anyway."

"How do you know that it wasn't a gift?" Mairon asked as the elf shook his head and Alistair eyed him cautiously, "Oh come now, don't act like that wasn't fun."

"Could you warn us on these things a bit...earlier?"

"Of course I will."

"Really?"

"No..." Mairon answered as he walked towards the entryway to the stairwell and opened the door. When he closed it behind him, he felt something prick the back of his head and turned to see the offending object stabbed through the door. "How did this knife end up in the door?"

* * *

><p><strong>Senior Mage Quarters Storage Hall, Kinloch Hold<strong>

The climb up the stairs was largely uneventful. Gilead led the group alongside Revan and Alistair while the others followed in from behind with Sten and Morrigan in the back. Occasionally, the group would stumble on a mutilated corpse that Mairon would set aflame just to be safe, but no demons.

Which made the group all the more cautious.

"Owain's room is near here." Wynne said as the group entered the Second Floor storage hall. Which was oddly clean compared to the first floor, "I hope he's alright."

"Is Owain another mage?"

"You'll see for yourself, he took the coward's way out." Mairon said to Revan, "Gimli? Leliana? Go scout over there for any demons."

"And why should I listen to you after that stunt you pulled back there?"

"Because I'm giving you a vantage point to use against Aeducan." Mairon whispered to the former Carta enforcer, "It was a suggestion anyway."

"I don't have a lot bombs left," Lily said to herself when she entered one of the archways of the storage areas, "Will anyone mind if I borrow something from in here?"

"Please refrain from going into the storeroom." A monotone voice warned a shocked Lily, "It is a mess and I have not been able to get it into a state fit to be seen."

"Are you Owain?"

"Yes," The monotone mage with a shaved head answered the unnerved elf, "Were you looking for me?"

"Owain..." Wynne said gladly when she approached the man, "What are you still doing here?"

"I was trying to tidy up but there was little that I could do."

"So you stayed your post while the guards and mages ran." Sten said to himself, "Admirable."

"Or stupid."

"From your point of view Aeducan."

"I tried to leave when things got quiet." Owain emotionlessly explained, "That was when I encountered the barrier. Finding no other way out, I returned to work."

"Owain? Why didn't you say something?" Wynne asked, "I would have opened the barrier for you."

"Actually, I think he wants to die, don't you?"

"I wouldn't mind either way." Owain answered Mairon who was staring at the Tranquil like he wanted him to spontaneously combust, "As I cannot feel, I don't fear death. I just wanted to stay here...where it's safe and familiar."

"This man disturbs me." Durin stated, "Shoot him Gilead...stick him out in his throat."

"Can go anywhere without someone being ruthlessly murdered?"

"He's already dead." Mairon said to Alistair, "I bet if we gave him a chance, he would describe the horrors of this tranquility and beg us to kill him."

"I won't deny your claim." Revan looked at the symbol on the tranquil's forehead and closed his eyes, "But I don't care to agree with it."

"Whats the matter?"

"This poor man, Gilead...is a tranquil." Morrigan explained, "A mage who has been cut off from the Fade or the Beyond as you would call it. This prevents the mage from ever being able to perform magic...but it also robs them of their free will."

"Anyone wanna justify this?" Before anyone could answer, they heard a mad chant coming from the main library ahead, "What was that?"

"The chant of a blood mage." Owain answered, "I hope that Niall made it past them in one peace."

"Niall?" Wynne asked, "I would've thought that he'd try to escape in all of this chaos."

"He did, he escaped the chaos of the upper floors." Owain replied, "He came here looking for a book...a litany I believe."

"The Litany of Adralla?"

"Yes, that was the one."

"I see..." Mairon nodded while scratching his chin in thought, "He must've tried to find it to stop Uldred and his men...brave...but foolish."

"Litany of Adralla...I think I've heard that somewhere..."

"I've vaguely heard of it too." Lily agreed with Alistair, "Is it something that'll help against these demons?"

"It should." Wynne explained to Tabris, "The Litany of Adralla is a scroll that contains the compiled enchantments of Adralla of Vyrantium, an accomplished mage scholar from the early days of the Circle. Through her research, she found a way counter to every form of mind control, magical or mundane. This includes the manipulative properties of blood mages and countering demonic possession-"

"Really?" Lily took out her knife and started scrapping one of her front teeth, "Just so we're clear about how unnecessary these circles are-" Suddenly, her arm flew out and threw the knife into Revan's chest.

"Lily..."

"It isn't me!" Lily gasped in horror as Revan fell onto his back in shock, "Something...controlled my arm."

"That would be me." A wrenching pain consumed the party as three mages entered the storeroom, all possessing eyes that glowed red with blood dripping from their slashed wrists, "That's what happens when you stand around instead of being aware of your surroundings, kill them all."

"Ha! You failed with me-"

"Then let's try you again!" The female mage cried as Durin cried out and fell onto his chest, "Not so tough with your blood boiling are you?"

"Blood...doesn't...boil..."

"Then explain the intense pain in every part of your body, master dwarf." The mage asked as Durin's blood continued to boil, "I'm waiting..."

"On the wrong dwarf!" A bolt and an arrow flew into the mage's chest, relinquishing the light in her eyes and freeing Revan, Wynne, Durin and Alistair from her spell. A dim light fired from Alistair's hands that impacted one of the other mages while the third chanted and summoned two wrath demons and a demon of ash. With his wounding blood magic cancelled Lily, Oghren and Sten were freed from the spell as Wynne healed the remaining victims to prevent them from dying due to the spell.

The remaining mage fell to his knees, freeing the remaining members of the party from his blood magic and leaving an opening for a counter attack. As he scrambled to defend himself, the mage that Alistair had previously disabled was helpless as Sten ran his sword through his stomach while Lily threw a knife through his skull. A dim blue light surrounded Revan as he charged one of the Wrath demons while the other was blinded by Leliana and Gilead. He stabbed through it's slashing arm and pulled it around so that Oghren could hack through it's head and Gimli could shoot a frosted arrow into it's gashing wound. When the demon froze, Revan slashed through it to finish it off.

Fuming with rage, Morrigan charged at the heaving mage and transformed into a spider. The mage screamed as the large spider grabbed him, threw him against the wall and began to pick out his chest as he gasped and cried in protest unheeded.

Though their summoner was dead, the two demons still remained, if only briefly. Now blinded, the remaining Wrath Demon was unable to defend itself from the combined skill and strength of Alistair, Durin and Revan while the Ash Demon was punched by a giant hand of Stone that Wynne had cast. The demon was then finished off when three arrows and a bolt filled with corrosive fluid struck it's body and caused it to fade into the ground.

"Impossible..." The remaining mage gasped as the battered wardens stepped towards her, "I thought...I thought that this would make me more powerful..."

"You were my dear." Mairon said as he knelt to her side and she looked to him with a hopeful gleam in her eyes, "But you made several mistakes in your execution."

"What? What did I do wrong-"

"First, you exposed yourself instead of waiting until our health had been whittled down." Mairon started, "Second, you didn't take the entire scene into account...allowing my comrades on the side to ambush and disable you. Third, only one of you should've been using the Blood Wound at a time. Fourth, your friend that was spider-gutted overtaxed his health by summoning the demons instead of simply using a Lightning spell."

"And lastly, for getting involved in Uldred's schemes."

"I was getting there Wynne!" Mairon shouted and then turned back to the woman, "Why Uldred my dear?"

"It was a chance...a chance to escape this prison...I would've been a fool to say no..."

"The important thing is that you've failed." Mairon said to the sobbing girl, "Would you like to have your life spared?"

"Yes..."

"Too bad." Wynne turned away when Mairon's knife was rammed into the side of the blood mage's face and a red essence flowed from her body into Mairon's arms as his eyes gleamed with scarlet light, "Such a waste."

"Lily, is this enough justification for you?"

"Let me think on it Alistair..." Lily said as she turned to the panting Revan and joylessly took the knife that he offered, "You'll live right?"

"My lady...you wound me..."

"Very funny Shemlen." Lily muttered while the group continued into the Broken Circle, "I'm just glad that you're not dead..."

"We should be thankful that the sarabas of blood were flawed in their tactics." Sten stated as he saw Mairon eye a flask that he'd taken from the female mage, "What is that?"

"The Chantry isn't too far from here..." Mairon nodded in thought and dropped the phial onto the floor, "Guess this wasn't the one."

"What wasn't the one?" Alistair regretted that answer when a scarlet fume flew up from the spilled contents of the flask and formed itself into a tall armored warrior with gleaming white eyes and equipped with a great sword and a long shield, "Oh..."

"That's what Bertram was warning us about!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**And so with this next installment in the Mage Arc, the story continues!**

**As for the cliffhanger, this is actually something that happened to me in the game. Anyone else whose played Origins has to recall that one frustrating occasion where two to three mages would be waiting for you and as soon as you were seen, one would cast Blood Wound while the others hammer you with chain lightning or fireball and when that Blood Wound expired, the other two would just use Blood Wound again, rinse, lather and repeat until game over.**

**The only difference is that these blood mages are relatively and canonically new to this newfound ability, which will be the only reason that the Wardens found a way to escape and kill them before they were unceremoniously murdered.**

**Also, you'd think that the team would stop letting Mairon touch magical stuff with all the bad things that happens when he does? Will this trend continue or will this Arc give plenty of reason for the wardens to be wary of their resident blood ma- I mean Force Mage! Force mage is what I meant!**

**And yet again, I'm finding it difficult to not be ticked and bias against the Chantry. But they're making it so hard! Why do you even need templars when we have the Litany of Adralla?**

**Something that's honestly surprised me, this story has become my most watched story and a close second most favorited. Whatever the reason, I owe all of you so thanks for the kudos.**


	20. Circle Tower: Arcane Desire

****Grand Enchanters Office****

"Are they gone yet?"

"They weren't gone five minutes ago...so what makes you think-" The older boy stopped himself when the 8 year old blond began to sob, "Hey...don't cry, they'll find us if you cry."

"They're gonna find us anyway." A 14 year old brunette with pigtails said while the rest of the children hiding in the office looked at her, "They know that we're in here...they just don't care."

"Then we'll be alright?"

"No...we'll starve to death." The brunette answered while the 7 year old started to quietly sob, "Stop crying...it's pathetic."

"I want...my...mother..."

"Too bad...your mother didn't want you anymore." Now the boy was loudly crying, "None of our parents wanted us...that's why they sent us away to this place."

"My father wants me! He sent me here to protect me!" A 10 year old boy with brown hair shouted, "Just you watch! He'll come here for me when the bad men are gone from the castle!"

"Keep dreaming."

"Why not dream?" The 15 year old boy asked in an oddly confident mood, "Didn't Mairon say that belief is first born in dreams? It's where we form our hopes and goals..where we face our fears and fouls...so what's wrong with dreaming?"

"Because dreams aren't real...this nightmare...is real..."

"Yeah...but mages turned heaven into hell...why can't we turn hell into heaven?" The boy asked and thought of something, "I think we need to just cheer up and idea should come to mind."

"But how?"

"What was that catchy song..." The boy asked outloud, hoping that one of the younger children would answer, "Something about...raindrops and roses-"

"No! None of that!" The oldest boy shouted when they heard something outside, "Maker's breath! They know that we're here!"

"Stop shouting!"

"Oh good! More shouting! That'll make them go away faster!" The oldest girl rebuked while the rest of the children began to loudly call and cry, "Idiots...we're going to die..."

"OPEN THE DOOR!" The children heard someone scream from outside, "OR I SWEAR I WILL DECORATE THE HALLS WITH YOUR DISECTED INTESTINES AND USE YOUR TONGUE AS A LUBRICANT WHILE I FORNICATE AND DESECRATE YOUR SKULL!"

"Millandros...what is he saying?"

"Nothing Bill...don't worry about it..." Millandros assured the child who was too young to understand any of the words that the stranger outside was saying, "Just stay quiet and he won't find us-"

"AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT HIDING! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE IN THERE!" The voice screamed, more frightened than angry now that Millandros noticed, "NOT MUCH USE IN LOCKING A DOOR WHEN I CAN BREAK IT APART WITH MY SODDING MIND!"

"Then what's keeping you?" Another voice asked that Millandros recognized, "Go ahead...bust down the door...what is that yellow liquid draining down your leg? Cowardice or Grease?"

"It's-"

"Either way...it's flamable." Suddenly the children heard the sound of violent fire ignite from the other side of the door while the earlier voice was now screaming in agonizing pain, "See...that's why you shouldn't drink so much...I can't believe that I can do that...now I really need to warn Oghren."

"WHY WON'T YOU KILL ME?"

"Good Question," The door burst off of it's hinges and fell with a shaking burnt mage upon it as a confident and familiar figure walked into the office, "Now then...time to raid Irving's belongings while he's not here to stop me! Why would it matter if he were here? I am a Grey Warden now...so...he can suck on a-"

"Mairon!" One of the children cried out in joy as she ran from her hiding place and embraced the leg of the surprised mage, "I knew that you weren't dead!"

"Sera? Good to see you too...I take it that the others are in here?" Mairon asked while patting the girls head as the rest of the children emerged from hiding to greet their new-come rescuer, "Amazing! You've all put a lot of older mages and enchanters to shame!"

"Why? Did we do something wrong?"

"No little Timmy...you lived." Mairon assured the boy with a smile, "The others didn't...most of them anyway...and the ones that I killed...but they were bad so...yeah..."

"Maker bless you Mairon!" Millandros said with relief, "You've been in the outside world right? Right?"

"How else would I have returned here?" Mairon asked the boy while excepting his hug and the hug of a girl with pig-tails, "I don't recognize you...or that boy with half of a broken sword...who are they?"

"Newcomers from Highever."

"Really? I know a Rivani Spirit Warrior from Highever." Mairon replied, distantly hearing someone curse his name from down the hall, "Apart from the heavy mess outside, how are you liking your stay here?"

"I want out."

"Me too..."

"We all want out." Mairon agreed, having just seen much of the state of the Tower's Second Floor, "It just so happens that the Grey Wardens are somewhat low in numbers and I might be able to put in a good word..."

"Really?"

"When you're older." Many children groaned while Mairon inwardly groaned with them, "I know that you want out, but I'm pretty sure that the Wardens don't take children."

"Where are the other wardens?"

"Doesn't matter, they'll catch up in a little while." Mairon boredly answered, "On the outside world...the only non-ravaged town that we visited was this place called Lothering."

"Lothering..." The pig-tailed girl thought to herself, "Can we visit it someday?"

"Maybe..." Mairon stated, "It's probably not the best of times right now..."

* * *

><p><strong>Outskirts of Lothering<strong>

It was the darkest and the worst of times for the past three years.

Galian still remembered when his father died of a fatal disease, one that neither he, nor father or Bethany could cure. Rendering the family powerless as they watched Malcolm Hawke die shortly after the shared birthdays of his twin siblings. It was on that day that he swore to protect his family in his father's place.

Now his home had been destroyed, his country was torn asunder by blight and civil war and his strength was waning...

Before him lied an ogre that he, his brother and a fellow survivor from Ostagar had struggled to slay, but at a terrible price.

His sister.

"Bethany!" His mother cried while holding the limp form of her daughter, "Bethany...wake up...please...it's over now..." The image of his mother begging for the inevitable to not be true was a blow to his already faltering will.

"I'm sorry ma'am..." The templar Weasley regretfully said while placing a hand on Mother Hawke's shoulder, "Your daughter has passed on."

"No! No!" Mother shouted while using a broken piece of Bethany's staff to stab the Templar's hand, "These things will not have Bethany! I won't allow it!"

"I don't think you're in a position to dispute the Maker-"

"I'm holding your sister's dead corpse in my arms and all you can do is make jokes about it?" Galian just shrugged while his mother wept, "How could you let Bethany end up like this?"

"To be fair, she only got hurt while trying to save you." Galian pointed out while his mother began to cry more loudly, drowning out the sounds of Weasley's cries for a bandage, "Sorry mother...it's just that you can't stand still in a warzone and expect nothing bad to happen."

"How dare you talk to mother like that-"

"Shut up Carver!" Leandra shouted at Bethany's twin, "This is still your fault...and my fault...I'm sorry Malcolm..."

"If I may say a few words?" Weasley asked, his wounded arm now bandaged by cloth taken from a bleeding darkspawn soldier, "Ashes we were, and ashes we become. Maker, give this young woman a place at your side. Let us find comfort in the peace she has found, in eternity."

"Oh Bethany!" Leandra cried as she placed her head against Bethany's chest, "I promise...you won't have died in vain..."

"Beth?" Galian and Leandra gasped as Bethany started to loudly cough, "Bethany!"

"Galian? Mother?" Bethany asked while short of breath, "I'm...I'm actually still alive..."

"As we commend this mortally wounded soul to your presence-"

"Wait..." Bethany said while her mother allowed her to sit up, "It hurts...but it's not that bad..."

"As we commend this hopelessly crippled soul to your presence-"

"Crippled? I can..." With her mother's help, Bethany stood on her feet with Galian's help, "I can still walk...Brother...can you heal me?"

"Of course Bethany." Galian replied and cast a Healing spell upon his sister, "How do you feel?"

"Much better..." Bethany tiredly said and allowed her crying mother to hold on to her, "There...there mother...I'm alright."

"Thank the Maker!" Leandra cried out, "I said such terrible things to you Galian...I'm so sorry...I just thought that I'd...lost my little girl..."

"At least you care." Galian remarked and silently motioned to Carver to loot the bloodied Ogre corpse, "How did you survive?"

"This vest..." Bethany noticed her torn vest and took it off while Weasley looked away from her state of near-nudity, "Now I remember! This was the vest that cousin Mairon gave me."

"Mairon? As in Amell Mairon of the Grey Wardens?"

"The same one." Leandra answered her eldest, "He and the surviving wardens passed through Lothering a while ago. I meant to tell you sooner, but the darkspawn were right on our heels."

"I understand mother." Galian assured his mother and looked towards the northwest with his will reinvigorated...knowing that he was not alone in this dark and mad world, "Thank the Maker for Cousin Mairon..."

* * *

><p><strong>Kinloch Hold, Senior Mage Storage Hall<strong>

"MAKER CURSE YOU MAIRON!" Alistair screamed while the great blade of the Revenant slashed through his chest and slashed off the top half of his shield. It then pulled his sword out of his hands and flung it into Gilead's leg who staggered and fell to the ground.

"Alistair! Focus on what's trying to kill us!" Gilead shouted to the ex-templar while wrenching the human's sword from his thigh, "Incredible...we outnumber him over ten to one and we're losing...badly." He grit his teeth when he managed to pull out the sword and slid it to a wounded Alistair. The Revenant briefly engaged Revan before pulling Durin towards them and standing still as the heavily armored dwarf was rammed into the Cousland noble and proceeded to hold back the swinging Oghren by placing it's hand on his helmet.

"That is why it is smart to burn the bodies of strong warriors." Wynne muttered as she cast a heal spell on Alistair, "Or else a high leveled demon will possess the corpse and create revenants."

"Of everything that I've read about..." Lily spat as she threw a fire bomb at the Revenant and watched as it remained unaffected by the blast of fire, "Why did this guy have to be real?"

"You think this is frightening?" Morrigan laughed and cast a hex of vulnerability upon the Revenant followed by a cone of frost that froze it and the attacking Alistair, "Listen to one of Flemeth's bedtime stories and then come talk to me."

"Flemeth?" Leliana asked, recognizing the name while she fired into one of the Revenant's eyes, "Is your mother "the Flemeth" from the tales?"

"Great question." Gimli sarcastically commented while he was halfway through reloading the depleted Kalah, "Just not an important one right now!" Blocking the Revenant's sword, Sten bashed his pommel into it's chest and dealt a heavy blow to it's exposed chest before being pushed away. Wynne conjured a fist of hardened stone that flew into the monster's back and flung it in the direction of Durin's axe. The dwarven noble swung and cleaved off it's arm as Revan slashed out it's side and Lily threw a single knife into it's eye. Missing an arm and an eye, the demon was helpless while the warriors hacked away at it's damaged armor and finally defeated it.

"Who dealt the killing blow?" Gimli asked, "Whoever it was, this only counts as one."

"Cariden's ass it does!"

"You're only saying that because you were knocked out for most of the fight!"

"No, I say this because it was only one adversary." Durin countered when Gimli finally finished reloading Kalah, "Not to mention that we had a sizable numerical advantage, hence lessening the challenge compared to if one were to face the creature by themselves."

"Is everyone alright?" Revan asked while helping Alistair to his feet, "Where is Amell?"

"Probably off looking at something shiny." Morrigan scoffed, "On the bright side, tis is one less demon for us to have to face."

"If the rest of the demons are as tough as this guy..." Gimli started as he eyed the tevinter architexture around him, "How about we just take out the pillars on the west side and collapse the rest of the tower into the lake?"

"An amusing plan, but it is a waste of what little intellect that you have-"

"Watch it Aeducan." Gimli warned, "Besides, I think we've got enough fire bombs and fire power between me, Lily, Mairon and Wynne-"

"I will not consent to such an action."

"We need the other mages remember?"

"I'm pretty sure that me and Mairon can manage then-"

"Manage what exactly?" Mairon asked when he appeared in the hallway with several younger apprentice mages running past him to the stairs leading to the lower floor, "Let me guess, Aeducan wants to blow the tower?"

"Yep."

"You lying casteless-" Durin was interrupted when a bolt of lightning surged through his armor and caused him to fall onto the floor, "I...hate...both...of you..."

"I'm used to being hated, so...why should it matter?" Mairon asked the groaning dwarf and then turned to a disapproving Wynne, "He could at least wait until after we save Irving."

"At least your priorities are set." Wynne muttered as Alistair sneezed and coughed at the same time, "Is there a problem Alistair?"

"Nothing ma'am...just something obvious." Alistair answered and pried his sword out of the Revenant's cuiress, "Come to think of it...I think we can use this. Needs a little work, but it still looks durable. Anyone mind if I take it?"

"It was your kill Alistair-"

"But I dealt the most damage-"

"Then get up and get it." Mairon told the dwarf, "And since you won't be able to do that in the next few seconds...the cuiress of an abominable revenant goes to Alistair!"

"Thank you...I think..." Alistair said while looking at the design of the demonic armor, "Did you find anything ahead after you abandoned us?"

"A few abominations here and there, but nothing that I couldn't handle." Mairon casually answered, "I do suspect that some of the blood mages may be hiding in the caves in the storage hall."

"Caves?" Durin scoffed, "How is this tower wide enough to store a cave upon it's second floor?"

"Part of the tower is built into the rock." Wynne explained, "However, the key to those caves are only known to Senior Enchanters. If Uldred had come down from the upper towers, we would know."

"Still...it might not be a bad idea to check and make sure." Revan figured, "I'll lead a small group into the caves...Mairon and Wynne, you lead everyone else into the upper levels and we'll follow you shortly."

"I don't think that splitting the party is a good idea-"

"I am tired of civilized surroundings," Morrigan said to cut off Alistair, "I will accompany you..."

"I'll go too." Lily volunteered, coming between a smirking Morrigan and a perplexed Revan, "This stupid shemlen will just get himself killed otherwise."

"None of ya's been in a cave before, have ya?" Oghren asked, "In that case, count me in! If Gimli doesn't mind if I get a few points ahead."

"As long as Aeducan doesn't win."

"I really don't think that this is a good idea." Alistair stated before shrugging when everyone ignored him, "But...Maker be with you..."

"Even me?"

"Yes Morrigan...even you..."

* * *

><p>"Why does this seem like a bad idea?"<p>

"Because it was a bad idea Varric...it really was..."

"Then why did the wardens do it?" Cassandra demanded, "Splitting the party is the last thing that you want to do in an unknown environment!"

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yes! I am!" Cassandra answered before calming down, "Speaking of which...how come the rebels didn't use the-"

"All in good time my dear..."

* * *

><p><strong>Senior Mage Quarters Sidehall<strong>

"How does the demon's armor fit?"

"I'm still very uncomfortable with wearing it...but...it's not bad." Alistair answered Sten as they moved in the rear of the group, "I needed new armor anyway-"

"Why does the armor's comfort concern you?"

"Qunari never care about being comfortable with things?"

"No."

"Then how did you live with yourself while you were stuck in that cave?"

"Simple, I would offer riddles of chance to onlookers in exchange for treasure."

"Really?"

"No."

"What cha talking about?" Mairon innocently asked the ex-templar and the qunari, "You should take a look at my recent paint job...doesn't it...livin up the place?"

"I must question your fascination with red," Wynne remarked while dismissively observing the blood that flowed from mangled mages who were currently pinned to the walls by templar swords, "I see that your time with the Grey Wardens has not quenched your desire for wanton bloodshed."

"You speak as though you are unsurprised," Gilead said as he opened the door to a room and found it's floor littered with burnt templar corpses, "You or the blood mages?"

"That one was me." Mairon admitted as the group entered a cleared sideroom that was freed from the presence of freshly spilled blood, "They were more like lyrium filled ghouls anyway...so Eadric probably beat me to them."

"Eadric? What makes you believe that Eadric is with Uldred?"

"Because the templars tranquilized his bitch and he's probably pissed about it." Mairon answered Wynne while he sat at a table and started reading through a worn journal, "_Whispers say Great Hall? Hidden above us the whole time! The vessel in hand, words from another time drip literal power. Put on a bowl! A sword raised, to sever connection. Cord out! A sword lowered, to strike though and ground. Bile! The threads placed before a warrior, spear raised. Shielded from each side, so whispers are known false. Where is this? It whispered order, but not where! It's in my head!_"

"What are you reading?"

"Some idiot's trying to summon the Watchguard of the Reaching." Mairon replied to the observant Gimli, "It's some stupid prank...apparently there's a bunch of statues that you can mess with and it'll cause this powerful demon to appear from the basement and give you an ultra powerful unbreakable sword."

"Sounds pretty neat-"

"After it kills you." Mairon finished when Gilead motioned towards a locked closet in the corner, "I think that the elf wants something. Do you want something homeless elf?"

"There's something in the closet you pathetic chained dog of the Chantry."

"I'm in the middle of reading something Seeker of a people without a kingdom, so go knock on the door."

"I'm low on arrows...please shoot it with your magic."

"Why would I waste my magic on a closet?"

"Perhaps to make amends for not using it against the demonic warrior that you summoned."

"So...you want me to destroy a closet to make up for the fact that you muggles can't fight a single adversary by yourselves?"

"Is this the part where I'm shocked to learn about your cold black heart?"

"My heart isn't cold! It's warm like the fireplace in a home which you don't have!"

"I'm sure that your little tea party is fun, but we have a job to do."

"Silence Alistair! I won't let this mage neglect his responsibility to this group anymore!"

"I'm sorry...if you think that I'm not contributing to this little gathering then feel free to find someone who will make me. What's his name again? Lord Absent Mac Non-Existent?"

"The Arvaarads of this country require greater efficiency..." Sten commented with a frown in Alistair's direction, "It is a wonder that the Grey Wardens do not have reliable Arvaarads themselves."

"Again...still waiting to hear about Lord Absent Mac Non-Existent Mahariel...well? Where is he?"

"Hello? Is someone out there-"

"OH SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Gimli roared before he took aim and unleashed a rapidly firing payload of thick arrows towards the closet. After twenty seconds of holding the trigger to Kalah, the closet was lift with several holes in it's structure, "Happy? Whatever was in there is dead-"

"Maker's mercy!" Leliana cried out when the door opened to reveal an enchanter who'd been pinned to the door that he was hiding upon, "Is he dead?"

"My dear...do you not see how many arrows are..." Gimli said more shocked at Leliana's question than his own action, "Yes...he is no more...he has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet your Maker or whichever god you blindly worship! He's a stiff! Bereft of life! He rests in pieces! If he weren't nailed to the closet door then he'd be pushing up daisies! His inner-biological functions have been blown apart! He's fallen out of the wheel! He's kicked the bucket! He's shuffled off of the mortal coil! Went behind the curtain and joined the choir invisible!"

"THIS. IS. AN. EX. ENCHANTER!" Mairon finished with dramatic flair while the rest of the group looked at him, "I just wanted to participate, no harm done right?"

"Apart from the man whom we've murdered in cold blood?" Alistair asked, still horrified at what had occurred, "I just hope that he didn't feel anything..."

"Is that Godwin?" Wynne asked, recognizing the intact face of Gimli's victim, "Oh dear...poor fool hid himself in a closet rather than make a run for it. It's a miracle that no one even found him in that fancy Orleisan Closet."

"ORLEISANS!" Mairon cried out as he unleashed a blaze of fire from his hands that seared off the top half of the closet before he calmed down. Mahariel's glare made it appear as though the elf was trying to burrow a hole within the mage's face, "I don't know why...but...hearing that the closet was orleisan made me want to destroy it."

"And...you...didn't...notice this...before?"

"Nope."

"Don't encourage him Gilead," Alistair said in defeat, "Between Gimli and Mairon...it's just a matter of how the man was going to die...I'm so sorry Wynne."

"Hey guys...you might want to check the corpse again..." Mairon stated while he got up and disappeared in between a row of book shelves, "I think that it's moving."

"It's dead...why would it-" Gimli cursed his luck when Godwin's body began to levitate in the air while his skin eroded into a dark mist leaving only a thinly covered skeleton within shambled robes, "Wynne...why is Godwin's body floating in mid air? Why is his skin falling off? And why does it look like it it's reanimating when I just killed it a few seconds ago?"

"Because...a disembodied demon just possessed our recently departed friend," Wynne warned as the Arcane Horror screeched and fired a fireball at Gimli. The blast knocked back the party as the creature levitated over them and left the room while they got back up, "And it's going to get reinforcements..."

"Keep it down out there! I'm trying to read!" Mairon shouted as he returned to the scene and saw Gimli on his back with a black scorch mark on Kalah, "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to kill you...when this tower thing is done and this Blight is dead...you're gonna be dead soon afterwards. This...I swear on my grandfather's beard."

"Which beard?" Mairon asked as Gimli rose to his feet and the party heard several footsteps stomp through the halls, "Hold that thought, I think that we'll have friends coming soon."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Senior Mage Storage Caves<strong>**

_"You deny our dead their rest, and so you also will be hounded. Let the strength of our union bind you by your true name,"_ Lily read outloud while she, Revan, Morrigan and Oghren explored the surprisingly deep cavern within the storage hall, _"Quametha Kagat, revenant and perversion of an honored father. Though no spirit cage will undo what was suffered. Andraste hold you, demon, and bind your rage for eternity."_

"What on earth are you reading?"

"I found this on that Revenant's corpse," Lily grudgingly answered Morrigan while examining something that marked the end of codex, "These thumbprints...It's probably from whoever placed that thing inside of the phylactery."

"One must question the logic of such an action."

"Do elaborate?"

"Of course," Morrigan said to Revan, "Why would they choose a fragile and small bottle to cage a powerful demon within instead of something more substantive like a diamond or a piece of armor. Better yet, why didn't they simply destroy it if they had the power to overpower and seal it?"

"Maybe they were sealing it for someone to find," Revan figured, "Or, there were other Revenant's that they were hunting and they wanted to save their strength until they found the rest of them."

"What's it matter? It's dead and we're not." Oghren pointed while inhaling the air of the caves and coughed, "Something's not right here..."

"Other than the dirt? Or that it's within the second floor of a tower?"

"None of that...I just tasted something that shouldn't be in caves like this." Oghren clarified, "There's an awful lot of lyrium stored here...it's not in storage either and...it's raw..."

"What's the difference?" Lily asked, "It's a mage tower, so wouldn't it make sense for mages to keep lyrium here?"

"Except that containment and usage of lyrium is closely monitored by templars." Revan stated, "Oghren...isn't raw lyrium lethal for non-dwarves to handle and dangerous for dwarves?"

"Yeah...usually the stuff gets processed before it comes to the surface. At least that's what I figured since dwarves don't got much use for the stuff."

"Lovely..." Morrigan muttered with mild interest, "Shall we see what has occurred within this cave?"

"There's two paths." Lily pointed out as the group came to a fork in the caves, "One to pick one and work our way back around or should we split up?"

"Split up? No...that would be foolhardy." Revan stated, "We'll take the left tunnel and work our way back around then catch up to the others-"

"Splitting up is foolhardy? Then why are we even here Karasten Revan?" Lily sarcastically asked, "How are we even sure that something's in here? This whole thing is just a waste of time."

"Better that it's a waste of time than an oversight that costs us lives later."

"Like you care as long as your precious Ferelden is safe."

"You live in Ferelden too, do try not to forget that my lady-"

"Are you ever going to shut up with the lady shit!" Lily's voice echoed through the caves before she exhaled, "I'm going this way...I'll move faster on my own and meet you guys halfway."

"I don't know what you've got against your man here but-" A knife embedded in the wall next to Oghren's cheek immediately made him rethink his words, "Soddin women...Ol'Oghren's staying out of this one."

"Fine...but don't come running if anything goes wrong." Revan told her while she went into the leftmost path, "Stupid girl...let's just survey these caves and get back to the others."

"And you're not going to try and stop her?" Morrigan asked while the trio entered the rightmost passage littered with decaying spider corpses, "What if our enemy captures her and they learn of our capabilities and intentions?"

"She can handle herself."

"Against humans and darkspawn perhaps..." Morrigan acknowledged before firing a bolt of mana to better illuminate the corpse of large grostesque spider-scorpion creature that lied amidst a line of slain templars, "But considering that elves know so little of the human world...how would she fare against the profane? Against mages and demons?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't care...you do...that's why your steps are slowing." Morrigan pointed out to the Cousland Scion, "If you're going to go after her, then do it and stop wasting my time with your male pride. Besides, if she dies then that's one less warden to use against the Archdemon."

"What was that last part?"

"If she dies then that's one less warden to fight the darkspawn." Morrigan repeated even though Revan thought that something sounded different from last time, "The dwarf will suffice for my protection if that's what you're worried about."

"Are you sure?"

"At least he'll suffice as a meat shield." Morrigan added while Oghren started to loot the fallen scorpion-spider and was tackled by a nug, "A very...very...flimpsy meat shield."

"You'll be alright my lady." Revan assured the Witch of the Wilds as he retraced his steps and left Morrigan to watch as Oghren lost a wrestling match with a sickly nug.

"Mother...why did you stick me with these fools?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Stupid Noble...stupid shemlen...leading me into these stupid caves..." Lily cursed while she explored these empty caves and had found nothing but a few spider and templar corpses, "Why did I even follow him in the first place?"

_"You didn't follow him my dear...you followed your own desires..."_

"Maker's Ass!" Lily cried out after she heard a saucy voice whisper in her ear, "Now I'm going as crazy as the others..."

_"Oh...you are all...crazy...you're simply the one in denial about it..."_

"Where are you!"

"Hello..." Lily shuddered and immediately turned with both knives drawn. Before her stood a woman with horns and black hair, her skin peach until it turned a tone of purple past the bottom of her abdomen and only clothed with two strips of cloth around her hip, "Who are you?"

"Demon!" Lily shouted and prepared to attack, but found herself transfixed within the stare of the demon's eyes, "Stop it...what are you doing to me?"

"I'm looking through you my dear..." The more that Lily looked at this demon, the less that she wanted to fight it...and the more alluring that it's form seemed to her, "I felt the great desire that pulsed from your body the moment that you stepped into these caves."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Denial...denial of such carnial desires..." The demon mused as she stepped closer to Lily who started backing away from this creature, "And it's all so...confused...how cruel..."

"Get back! I will use this!" Lily threatened while she felt a tug that told her to lower her weapons and allow this demon to approach. At the same time, her mind screamed at her to not to give in to the stupid suggestion and stab the creature already, "You think that I won't? You're not the first person that I've killed with this thing!"

"But wouldn't you rather kill humans?" The demon asked, Lily now felt the rough cavern wall press on her back while the demon came within inches of her face, "Or...has your thirst for revenge given way for a desire to...submit to them?"

"Submit?" Lily was too stunned by the demon's question to even care when it grabbed her thigh and started caressing it, "Never...I'd sooner die then...submit..."

"Then why is the Cousland Noble alive?" The demon asked as Lily felt her own breath stutter with heat rising in her face, "Is becoming his pet so much different then being Vaughen's whore?"

_"It's a party isn't it? Grab a whore and have a good time!"_

"Revan's...not like that bastard..." Lily countered, attempting to push the demon away from her and ended up grabbing the demon's breasts, "He's...one of the only shems that I can actually stand."

"Because you desire to be his bed warmer!" The demon mused while it tore open Lily's tunic and exposed her aroused breasts. In her shock, she didn't notice when the demon pressed Lily's arms against the wall and caused her knives to fall to the ground, "Did Vaughen's men break you so badly elven bride?"

"Break me?" Lily asked, images from her short abduction under Vaughen's men tore through her mind, "I killed them like the dogs that they were!"

"Yes...and you liked killing them, didn't you?"

"Hell yes!" Lily heard herself scream while the demon lightly licked her right nipple, causing her to fall further into her mixed stupor of confused arousal and rising anger, "They killed Nola! They killed Neleros! They raped Shianni! They ruined the happiest day of my life! They killed my mother when I was a little girl! I HATE THEM! I WANT THEM ALL TO DIE!"

"Want who to die?"

"HUMANS!" She kicked back the demon and grabbed her knives, the same pulsing wrath that she'd felt on that day was now surging through her body, "I hate humans...I want...I want them all...to die..."

"Then go kill the first human that you see..." The demon suggested just as heavy boots began to step into their direction, "Here comes one...right now..."

"Lily...are you alright-" Revan stopped when he saw the demon that smirked at him, "I see...a demon of desire...hope that you haven't harmed my friend."

"Are you so certain that she is your friend?" The demon asked while Lily stalked to Revan's side with an expression of cold hatred, "Perhaps you should keep better track of who your friends and foes are...lest you fall to the same fate as your family."

"The Couslands will always endure as long as our deeds are never forgotten-"

"I mean no disrespect to you...handsome lord." Revan nodded to Lily, who fell in behind Revan while he started to approach the demon with both of his blades drawn, "What befell your family was not your fault...it was your father's."

"Silence demon, you didn't know my father."

"Why should I have to?" The demon asked while she caressed her breast and licked her lips, "I can assume that your father was a noble sort. Honest, brave, bold, wise, fair and loyal to friends and country. I know this because that is how your stance portrays you as...therefore, I can assume that your weakness will be the same as your father's."

"I will hear no more of you-" Revan was stunted and held in place as he felt two steel knives drive into his shoulder blades, "What...have...you...done..."

"You are so trusting of others...that you never foresee the knife that drives into your back." The demon laughed as Revan fell to the ground while Lily stood above him with a malicious gleam in her eyes, "You've made him suffer...how does this make you feel Lily?"

"It feels...great..." Lily said while she turned Revan onto his back and sat upon his lap with her knives against his neck, "This is what you wanted...isn't it shemlen? You want me to warm your sword? Tease your manhood? Submit to your superior girth? Beg and plead for more? That's what you all want us pretty elven girls to do...isn't it?"

"Lily...stop it...the demon's...controlling you...fight it-"

"Why fight something that gives such joy?" The demon asked while Lily swiped her blade upon Revan's cheek and licked the blood from the wound, "Like you...this girl is filled with such great thirst for revenge...anger at those who wronged her...envy of those who benefit from her suffering and that of her family and her people...desire for vengeance upon the powers who vindicate her tormentors...it was so delicious that I just had to share..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**To those who are wondering why Lily is suddenly being controlled by a Desire Demon don't worry it's not an asspull. Remember that Desire Demons thrive on screwing with people's desires, envy, lust, fears and other emotional baggage and using those emotions for their own ends. Considering that any single warden could have a multitude of psychological issues, then it shouldn't be a surprise that a Desire Demon can warp those issues for it's own amusement.**

**Kudos to the hunters who hunted down and sealed those revenants that you free from the black vials by touching them...but I have a small question...**

**WHY WERE THEY IN FRAGILE PHYLACTERIES?**

**Whose bright idea was it to seal a Revenant inside of a fragile phylactery? Are you high? And to seal six of them in different phylacteries? Within places that any ordinary person can stumble across them and accidently shatter the phylactery, releasing the potently dangerous revenant from within it?**

**Why couldn't they just seal them inside of lamps and send them to Orlais as a sick joke? Disguise themselves as merchants and have people pay thousands of sovereigns for lamps that contain genies which grant wishes. You'd never have to worry about people wanting their money back unless anyone rich enough to pay for the lamp or steal it happens to be a badass who can go toe to toe with a demonic warrior and live to tell the tale. Anyone else would be screwed and you'd make a fortune.**

**Or how about sealing them within little gems like the one in the Elven Ruins? They're easy to hide and aren't easily destroyed like fragile glass phylacteries are. Why not exorcise the demonic spirit from the Revenant, place it within a willing mage and immediately kill the mage, destroying the demon along with them? Why weren't these phylacteries placed under Chantry Supervision? Did the Chantry not believe the hunter's story about sealing revenants inside of glass bottles? Or were they pissed off that a random muggle was able to perform a feat that most templars could only dream of accomplishing? Not to mention actually containing and ridding the world of a legitimate force of evil?**


	21. Circle Tower: Reconcile and Fade

******Senior Mage Storage Caves******

"So be it." Revan focused as he grabbed Lily's breasts and momentarily freezing in shock. Allowing the young noble to shift his body weight to his lower body and send himself into a backward flip to throw Tabris off of him and into the Desire Demon. In apparent rage and frustration, Tabris unknowingly stabbed said demon multiple times as she tried to stand on her feet while Revan stood by with his swords drawn.

"Stupid shemlen! Stupid noble! You think can do whatever you soddin want!" She screamed when she stood on her feet painted in the blood of the demon who was no longer controlling her, "Well...you copped a feel! Happy?"

"To be honest, they are a bit larger than I imagined." Revan admitted, watching as the still affected Lily attacked with swift stabs meant to penetrate exposed joints and weaker parts of his armor. He avoided the attacks that he couldn't block though Lily's quicking speed was starting to become a problem. Evidently, the rage brought on by the Desire Demon's spell did not fade after it's death or perhaps it was being fueled by Lily's own emotions. Whatever was happening, Revan had to break this hold on Lily or else one or both of them would end up critically injured.

"What's the matter? Don't want to scratch these elven goods?"

"In truth, I'd rather you calm down so that we can regroup with the others."

"Why? You don't like it when your elves talk back do they?"

"You're my elf?"

"You seem to think so!"

"You're exhausting my options..." Revan said when he found his blades locked with Lily's knives. He looked upon the hilts of her weapons and found that a small thin piece of metal was wrapped to the hilts, "Locking my weapons in place and then breaking the blades using my own strength..."

"Now I'm really a credit to my race aren't I?"

"You would be if you weren't wasting your talent on this pointless effort." Revan stated while forcing the bladelock so that both his and Lily's arms were out to their sides, "Say that you kill me...what then? Do you really think that my sister will let you leave this tower alive?"

"I'll...I'll say that the demons killed you-"

"And what about Oghren and Morrigan? You really think that they'll be stupid enough to-" Revan stopped and thought for a moment to amend his case, "Alright Oghren would believe it but would about Morrigan? And if she doesn't which she won't, do you wish to take your chances against a mage that can transform into a giant spider?"

"So what? I should let you have your way?"

"Do you hate me that much?"

"Ye...Yes..." Revan caught something in Lily's voice but focused back on her face when he felt pressure build on the blades of his swords, "You're a shemlen and...you're a spoiled one! You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth! You have people who made your meals, cleaned your mess and groomed you! I was put in a dirty torn rag when I was born! Every day of my life was a struggle because of people like you! I had to rummage through your mess just to get a measley salary whenever I could get legitimate work! All while being told that I was nothing but a pathetic knife-ears!"

"It sounds like you don't hate me...but you hate your life."

"WHO THE HELL WOULDN'T?"

"Then why are you still here?" Lily's strength wavered from Revan's question while he seized the initiative to release the grip on his swords, grab Lily's sides and tackle her into the cavern wall, "Why defend shemlen lands when you could simply leave and return home?"

"Because..." Sensing the spell fade, Revan released his grip and watched Lily's eyes dart in and out between rage and confusion, "The Blight will hurt my people too..."

"My past may be easy compared to yours, but the present is another matter entirely." Revan started while pulled out a silk fabric that he'd found on the road and tied it onto Lily's chest, "In Denerem lives a man who betrayed and murdered my family. He attacked my father when my family was at it's most vulnerable and murdered everyone in the castle, men, women and children. How was he punished? His punishment was to be awarded my father's title as Teryn and along with becoming the Arl of Denerem after the seat was vacant when it's previous lord was killed as a result of Loghain's treachery."

"Let me guess...it's my fault because I gutted the old man's son?"

"No, I would've done the same." Revan freely admitted when he saw the malevolent gleam fully die within Lily's eyes, "The difference between us is that you were strong enough to save your family from treachery and the failure of justice. I...failed to even protect my own nephew...my sister's survival can barely be attributed to me since she's at least strong enough to lift a full grown ox by herself."

"Stop putting yourself down-"

"No really...she can do that..." Lily simply blinked while Revan picked his swords up from the ground, "From where I stand...my silver spoon blinded me to what was important until after it was taken away. You...you can better appreciate what was important...mourn when it was gone and...fight harder to protect it in the moments when it counts."

"What about me hating shemlens?" Lily asked as Revan shrugged, "Giving up?"

"You don't hate shemlens, my lady. You're simply too wounded by what happened with Vaughen to allow yourself to admit how the Desire Demon really got you."

"What? Do you think that it got me by luring me with desires for your thick dark rod?"

"Pardon?" Revan asked as Lily herself blushed at what she'd said. Suddenly, Lily's previous state was making more sense to him, "As soon as you stop stabbing me, we can talk about that."

"Whatever..." Lily grumbled while Revan caught an Injury Kit that she threw at him, "Look...don't tell anyone about what happened here...alright?"

"As you wish." Just then, both warriors reflexively drew their weapons and simualtanously stabbed a Rage Demon before it could fully emerge from the ground. Lily finished it off by shoving a Frost Vial into it's mouth while Revan stabbed it's mouth shut, causing the explosion to freeze the creature's internal parts while the two wardens slashed the frozen demon into quickly melting fragments, "Desire is never to far away from wrath..."

"Shut up and kill the others!" Lily shouted when more appeared out of the walls along with several shades. The energies of the spirit covered Revan's body as he decapitated a shade and turned to allow his shield to block the claw of another. He quickly cut down the offending shade, drawing the demons attention to him while Lily seized the advantage and stabbed a Rage Demon in the back with frost coated knives.

"Hey! Those are my stragglers!" Oghren shouted as he charged up the cavern and slammed his axe into a shade to slash it in half, "Get your own soddin stragglers!"

"First come! First serve!"

"The lady has a point." Revan pointed out as Oghren grumbled and used his pummel to disrupt the form of an Ash demon. The demon snarled in reply and swiped at the dwarf and hacked off it's arm before a bolt of magic took off the creature's head.

"So! You've settled your pointless bickering and have chosen to vent your frustrations on the darkspawn?" Morrigan asked while using her staff to knock aside a shade and unleashed a pulse of disruptive magic that stunned their foes, "Does this mean that you won't do obviously stupid things Tabris?"

"No promises."

"Your early funeral..." Morrigan muttered as the last of the demons were cut down, "Did you at least find something to occupy you or did you crave the attention of this noble fool?"

"See that thing?" Lily asked pointing to the Desire Demon that Oghren hacked into when it's leg moved, "It's dead...I already killed it."

"It moved..."

"It was twitching you twit...it's nervous system was probably shattered after my little outburst." Lily stated and then remembered something from her tuffle with Revan. But when she was about to speak, she noticed the blood stains on the back of the Cousland Noble from when she had stabbed her, "How's your back?"

"Yes...that's a very precise wound..." Morrigan observed, catching Lily's guilt and anxiety from the witch's implication, "Too precise for a demon...I wonder what happened..."

"I've had worst."

"You liar..."

"Come you pansies!" Oghren shouted as he ran for the exit of the storage caves, "The real action is further up in this stinking tower!"

"His enthusiasm aside...he's right..." Revan agreed when another thought occurred to him, "And knowing whose still with them...they're lacking in full team cooperation..."

"When was the last time that we weren't lacking in cooperation?"

"Fair point my lady."

"Stop that!"

* * *

><p><strong>Senior Mage Quarters Sidehall<strong>

"_Tome Deus vi Eternus...In malefectorum, dragos te' ventim. Solariat ven deos mentoris, pluratic ven contrivarian._" Mairon read aloud while he studied a page from the codex of Enchanter Rhonus. Outside, it appeared as though there was battle occuring, but Mairon was too interested in this journal, "_Spake he the words, and brought life. Speak you the words... ascension. Answers lie in..._Great, I can't read the rest of this..."_  
><em>

"Here's some notes though!" Mairon said to himself when he heard noticed a ghoul fly into the room where he sat. The ghoul had a single arrow in it's knee that hobbled it's footing. But it's screeching distracted Mairon enough for him to fire a single bolt of magic through the being's skull, "That's 83 archers!"

"That one counts as mine!" Gilead said from the doorway before he used an arrow to pierce the neck of a possessed templar and wrench it out to messily decapitate the man and then fired that same arrow into an abomination down the hall, "Stop reading that nonsense and help us!"

"But this is more interesting..."

"If you linger than your score will falter." Gilead boasted as he side-stepped Alistair who had been thrown out of another room by the blast of a fireball, "But I warn you! Gimli wants the Arcane Horror for his own!"

"Who cares? I can catch up at any time." Mairon muttered and used Force Magic to smack the door into the Dalish elf's face. He then focused back to his reading despite hearing a Dalish curse while something was stabbed repeatedly, _"The words elude me, but I will defy their obstinateness. Worked by the Old Gods or the Maker himself, I will wring their secrets into my hands. I need the essence of the powerful. And the pure. And so begins a bloody road, but at the end, godhood, the keys to the Black City."_

"Amell! We require your assistance!"

"Yes Wynne..." Knowing better than to argue with the Senior Enchanter, Mairon stepped over the Desire Abomination, Rage demons, Arcane Horror and ghouls that he had to kill in order to get some time alone to read. He then opened the door and shot the first thing that he saw.

To his delight, it was Durin.

"You are unfamiliar with friendly fire, aren't you?"

"But fire can't be friendly!" Mairon corrected the dwarf while unleashing a torrent of fire from each spread out hand, burning several ghouls that attempted to flank him and the stunned dwarf, "See?"

"On the contrary, you are not friendly so you can direct the fire for malicious intentions."

"I can be helpful with fire!" Mairon said in mock protest as he charged a Fireball with electric mana and fired it at an Arcane Horror down the hall. Unfortunately, Sten happened to have stabbed it's hip at the moment and was not only caught in the explosion, but was electrified by the electric properties of the attack and fell to the ground unconscious, "See...I helped."

"You took out our strongest warrior!"

"But the Arcane Horror is dead..." Mairon said to Alistair while pointing out the decaying Arcane Horror, "If you didn't want my help then how about letting me go back to reading?"

"Minus 5 for quitters!" Gimli shouted while fire bolt after bolt at charging possessed templars who emerged from side-rooms further down the hall, "81...82...how ya doing Gilead?"

"I'm on 94!"

"Impressive..." Mairon said while clapping and practically ignoring Alistair who was being tossed against the wall by a large flaming Rage Abomination, "Durin? How about you?"

"Eighty-"

"Don't finish..." Mairon then directed the dwarf to the multiple corpses that littered the inside of the library which he'd been sitting in, "I'm over a hundred..."

"So the manhood contest continues?" Just then, Giant spider leapt onto the abomination that held Alistair and proceeded to bit out it's neck while Alistair leaned against the wall screaming like a girl as Mairon laughed at the templar. Meanwhile, Oghren and Revan joined the fight with Oghren ramming a horned Abomination while Revan jump-stabbed a Hunger Abomination in it's mouth.

"Was there anything in the caves?" Leliana asked Lily while the bard tripped a ghoul so that it fell right onto Lily's knives, "And what happened to your dress?"

"Desire Demon...fight...Revan snapped me out of it...touched me...but I stabbed him first and..." Lily mumbled before she chose to focus on the possessed templar and stabbed his arm before slitting the man's throat without hesitation, "Shit...there might be another one nearby..."

"Another what?"

"Wait..." Lily thought to herself and then turned to Wynne, "Hey! Have you guys seen any desire demons?"

"I haven't..." Wynne answered while she revitalized Sten, allowing the qunari to rise to his feet and pull an abomination to the ground and pull off the creature's head with his massive strength, "Mairon! What about you?"

"There was an abomination with large...breasts..."

"Don't tell that it had a-"

"Thank the Maker...it didn't..." Oghren and Mairon signed in relief while Gilead shook his head in disapproval, "Oh...I'm sorry that I'm grateful enough to thank a possibly non-existent Maker. At least I can do so from a home!"

"This puts me at...89..." Revan said to himself while slashing through a possessed templar as the skirmish was concluded, "Is everyone alright?"

"Apart from not feeling my hands due to the bas sarabas' poorly thought-out technique..." Sten growled while looking at a disinterested Mairon, "Though...it was probably intentional."

"Who cares? Get over it." Spider-Morrigan said as it crawled into the hall with Leliana's screams joining Alistair's while Oghren laughed as he fainted and Wynne looked on with mild interest, "What? Have you never seen a Giant Spider before?"

"IT TALKS!"

"Morrigan..." Revan said while the spider transformed into the laughing Witch of the Wilds, "Try to give us more warning next time."

"Impressive spell that you utilize young lady," Wynne complemented, "It certainly needs work on grace, but it will due."

"I'm so happy to impress a caged frail old bird."

"I may be "caged" and old, but I am much less frail than you." Wynne stated just as the abomination corpses exploded and sent half of the party off of it's feet while Wynne stood unphased, "Perhaps we should note this in the future ladies and gentlemen?"

"Speaking of notes..." Mairon said while he helped Morrigan to her feet and then took a fringed book from the corpse of the Arcane Horror that he had destroyed earlier, "Hey Gimli! I found the goods!"

* * *

><p>"No wonder they got rich so quickly!" Varric laughed, "Do you mind skipping the Third Floor and going straight to the Fourth?"<p>

"I suppose...nothing interesting happened there..." The Orator said out loud while he thought to himself, "But...isn't that where Leliana found the feather?"

"Why don't you tell us a little about the Watchguard of the Reaching?"

"What's there to say? How do you expect one Rage Demon to fare against a group of desperate mages, two mabari hounds and a young woman with the strength to break open a locked steel cage on accident?"

"Badly I assume?"

"The Orleisan's catching on."

"I'm Nevarran!"

* * *

><p><strong>First Floor<strong>

"YOU! SHALL NOT! PASSSS!" After being pummeled by arcane bolts from many sources, having it's arms ripped off by the mabari hounds and being hacked into repeatedly by a human woman...Shah Wyrd happily lunged at the eldest mage. Knowingly slamming it's wounded body against the enchanter's barrier and willingly reducing it's own existence down to a pile of ashes.

"What was that?" Lealion asked Shatele as the Cousland heiress bent down and pulled a large sword from the ashes of the fallen demon, "Really...what was that?"

"It wasn't the same Wrath Demon as Wynne had encountered..." Mckellen pointed out while poking the locked door to the basement, "Perhaps it was a demon that was sealed within the Tower basement. One of Uldred's mages must have unlocked the seal and summoned the demon on our level."

"Or perhaps brother and the others did so without knowing?"

"Mairon's curious but he wouldn't dream of putting our lives in danger out of curiosity-"

"Those wardens are of the brood of darkness! They will damn our souls to the darkest pits of hell-"

"SHUT UP!" Shatele shouted as she smashed the pummel of her newly found sword into Keili's face and knocked her onto the ground unconscious though that didn't stop Shatele bending down and grabbing the mage's collar, "My brother is not a hellspawn! You be sure and remember that!"

"I don't think she can hear you dear..."

"Why not?"

"She's kind of asleep..." Lealion pointed out as Shatele shrugged and dropped the mage onto the floor, "Whatever's going on, it sounds like our wardens are having a lot of fun on the upper floors."

"Fun? It will not last." Mckellan noted while smoking his pipe and blowing out a smoke ring, "There are more than demons of wrath within the planes of the fade my dears. Some are obvious and boasterous...and others are quiet and lazy."

"Then why be afraid of the lazy demons?"

"Lady Cousland, just because one is lazy...that does not make them any less deadly..."

* * *

><p><strong>Templar Quarters<strong>

"I still don't see why you left us to fight while you tampered with statues!" Gilead said as the wardens and company entered the fourth floor, "Was it another tedious ritual in your Chantry Cult?"

"The Chantry is not a cult!"

"Tell that to the mass graves in Rivain..." Alistair muttered under his breath while Leliana started to argue with Gilead again, "Anyway...let's get this done with before something happens to Shatele and the others."

"They'll be alright Alistair, Shatele can look after herself and she's not alone." Revan assured the templar with a slight hint of suspicion, "Why so worried for my sister by the way?"

"Sisstteeer...she's a nice girl and I'd hate for anything to happen to her." Alistair answered as he caught Gimli smirking and running his thumb across his neck, "Call me old fashioned...but...I get worried easily for friends."

"It's understandable considering Ostagar and..." Immediately realizing that Revan was opening an old wound in Alistair's mind, the Cousland Scion chose to shift the subject, "That we're inside of an unfamiliar tower infested with demons and mages who can use blood as a weapon."

"True...I wish Duncan were here..."

"Duncan is dead. Get over it."

"Morrigan-"

"No! He needs to shut up about this Duncan fellow!" Morrigan shouted to Wynne while Alistair began to sniff, "They are members of an order where everyone is going to die sooner or later. I'm surprised that he hasn't made peace with the fact that his order is whittled down to the seven of you or that he hasn't done something more productive with his grief other than whine and cry in Shatele's bosem."

"What?"

"That was an accident-" Upon seeing Revan enter his "Spirit State" Alistair felt as though the next ten years of his life were about to become voided, "So...she didn't tell you about when she...took me...up...to my room and...I...stripped naked...and then...she stripped naked and...then she...pulled my...head...into...her...breasts and I slept there and certainly didn't defile or touch her inappropriately or in any way that she wouldn't have liked..."

"Well he's dead..." Gimli chuckled while he walked away from the increasingly tense scene and opened a side door. Inside, he saw a templar passionately kissing and fondling a horned purple woman, "Ancestor's shit..."

"Poor Alistair...least he died after touching a good set of..." Oghren stopped when he stood next to Gimli and both dwarves stared upon the purple woman, "Ancestor's tits..."

"I suppose that we'll have to find another magic knight..." Durin stood on the other side of Gimli and was very intrigued by the scene that he witnessed, "Let's ask him."

"I think that he's preoccupied..."

"Nonsense Brosca! At least he won't be for very long..."

"I don't know...me and Branka could do things for a long time..."

"Excuse me a moment..." Oghren giggled while Durin casually walked down the hall to another door in order to find anything to take his mind off of a vivid scene of Oghren and Paragon Branka...doing things.

"What was his problem?" Lily asked as she stared past Gimli and immediately went on her guard, "Okay...I was hoping that there weren't more than one of these things..."

"What is that...thing?"

"A desire demon...a demon that...uses your desires and emotions...against you..." Lily blushed in embarressment due to her earlier encounter with a desire demon in the second floor caves, "As long as we take it out before it realizes that it has leverage against you...it won't be a problem."

"Oh darling...you're so good..." The Desire Demon moaned as the brain-washed templar pinned the demon against the wall where she saw the confused and dazed wardens who watched her, "Darling...someone's broken into our house!"

"What?" The templar asked as he turned and saw the dwarves and one elf, "Who are you?"

"If you want to...we're here to save you."

"Save me?" The templar asked Gimli before he drew his sword, "But...this is my wife-" Heeding Lily's advice, Gimli unleashed a full volley of bolts that covered a full third of the opposing wall except for the spots where the templar and the demon were standing. Said templar and demon were covered head to toe with bolts that had embedded into their bodies and soon dead.

"What? He didn't want to be saved." Gimli pointed out to Lily, "Besides, I'm not the only whose on edge with all of these demons around. Right?"

"I'm actually enjoying the change in scenery." Mairon said as he and Durin emerged from the other room. Inside of said room was decorated with hacked or maimed body parts from hidden possessed templars and one unlucky mage whose spell was inaffective against Durin, "Needs a little paint though."

"You realize that this is your home?"

"Was my home and not by choice." Mairon corrected, "Unlike you Tabris, I now have options!"

"I could poison his drink..." Lily breathed under her breath while she contemplated her navel and whether or not she should throw her knife into the back of Mairon's neck, "And no one would miss him..."

"Except when you find yourself missing his...potent ability." Morrigan chuckled from next to the fuming elf, "Or...you can stop feeling sorry about your people's situation and do something about it."

"Like what-" Deciding not to be thrown into this argument again, Lily decided to ignore the witch of the wilds, "Nevermind, let's just get out of here and be done with it."

"No worries, the staircase to the Harrowing Chamber is just past-" Wynne began to state before the group entered the floor's central chamber and saw a horribly grotesque and misshapen creature waiting for them in front of a mass of flesh and other materials that no one wanted to guess, "That thing."

"First to see makes it bleed!" Gimli shouted as he brought out Kalah and then sloppily dropped his crossbow from sudden heavy fatigue, "That drink has a long kick delay..."

"Stop...making excuses..." Gilead muttered as he reached for his bow and instead felt the Lay Sister fall onto his chest, "Get off..."

"I'm...tired all of a sudden." Leliana apologized as Gilead pushed her off of him, "Sorry..."

"Mairon...Wynne..." Revan managed as the energies of his spirit form wavered with his own conviction, "What is that thing?"

"A Sloth Demon from the looks of the thing." Mairon answered with mild drowsiness, "Hi."

"Don't converse with it-"

"Hello Grey Warden, welcome to your new sleeping quarters." The Sloth Demon mumbled while it's adversaries grew increasingly tired, "All of you have gone through a long journey, haven't you? Wouldn't it be nice if you could lie down and sleep?"

"Sure...right after I..." Lily stumbled in place and then leaned against the Cousland scion, "Revan! Hold me steady!"

"Why...oh...alright..." Revan grabbed the elf's exposed hip to steady her while gulping from how easily she could stab and reopen his wounds from their earlier brawl, "Better?"

"Yeah..." The blue-haired elf answered as she threw her knife and it hit Mairon squarely in the back of his shoulder, "Oh...I missed..."

"You think!" Mairon shouted in surprise and humor as he pulled out the knife and felt a river of blood flow from his body, "Actually, I can make this work...time for a nap friends."

"I'll nap when nugs fly-" Oghren promptly fell upon his face.

"Pashara...I hate this land..." Sten stated while he fell on top of Oghren.

"I can't...resist...anymore..." Leliana muttered as she fell backwards and Gilead caught her on reflex.

"Get...off...damned...shemlen..." Snarling with frustration, Gilead was pulled from his feet by his own fatigue...

"That's alright...I saw him first anyway-" Gimli slammed his face into Kalah's hard wood and groaned before sleep took him...

"We...need...to...leave before..." Alistair attempted to step towards the demon, but slipped on Mairon's foot and fell backwards with his head hitting his own shield.

"Some Magic Knight that you are."

"We...have...to...regroup..." Revan muttered as his spirit energy faded and he fell forward with Lily trapped underneath him.

"Get...off...get...off..." Lily weakly attempted to get the shemlen noble off of her, but found her strength weakening until all she could do was turn onto her back before falling unconscious.

"Resist...please! Resist..." Wynne pleaded before she too fell under the Sloth Demon's spell and fell asleep standing upon her feet.

"How is that even possible?" Durin asked as he looked upon the sleeping Senior Enchanter and then turned back to the Sloth Demon, "No...I will not sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because sleeping in this situation will leave me vulnerable to whatever magical abilities that you hold within the Fade." Durin stated with his arms crossed over his chest, "And yes, it is very possible for you to draw dwarves into the fade. Though our inability to use and resistance magic cuts us off from this Fade, creatures who are native to the Fade are very capable of bringing us into a specifically constructed area within this place."

"Why did you tell this to the demon?" Morrigan asked before she fell upon the floor.

"I was more talking to myself than anyone else."

"You think and talk too much." The Sloth Demon said as Durin nodded in full agreement while pulled Lily's knife from his shoulder, "Perhaps you would be more restful if you slept more often."

"I highly doubt it." Durin countered, "There have been many times where I had plentiful sleep, but was no more restful than when I had a handful of hours for rest. Therefore, it is not the amount of sleep that allows rest but the quality of said rest that determines how much more restful I will be-"

"Sleep."

"No."

"Sleep...close your eyes and sleep..."

"No..."

"Sleep."

"No."

"You're really going to go back and forth all day aren't you?" Mairon asked while he charged magic in both of his hands, "Here...I'll make this simple."

"You do that Mage Amell."

"As you wish." Mairon then lifted Durin in the air, turned him upside down and slammed him into the hard floor headfirst, "There...he's asleep now..."

"Good and you should sleep too..."

"I don't know if I can trust you..." Mairon muttered while he looked upon the grotesque, malevolent and twisted face of the mage which the sloth demon now possessed as it's unwilling vessel, "Okay! I need a nap anyway!"

"Good..." The Sloth Demon stated as Mairon sluggishly moved to the sleeping Morrigan and loosened the folds of her robes. Once he smiled upon Morrigan's exposed tracts of land, he lied down next to the Witch of the Wilds and nestled his head in between her tracts of land, "Enjoy the nap..."

"I know you won't..."

* * *

><p>"You can't possibly have been there for this next part?"<p>

"I'll let you decide that."

"No more games fool!" Cassandra shouted at the Orator, "The only ones who could've fully known what had happened within that place were the wardens and their companions! How the hell would you know what they encountered?"

"Maybe I don't...maybe I was with them." The Orator answered with a calm smirk, "For all you know, I could just be talking out of my ass and making things up that sound more interesting."

"You're treading a fine line..."

"Wait...wait...his story checks out so far." Varric said in the Orator's defense, "But if you are going to make shit up, it better be interesting shit."

"Have I disappointed so far?"

"Not at all."

"Then let's see where the story goes now..."

* * *

><p><strong>Viscount's Keep, Kirkwall<strong>

Yawning, the boy drowsily waited for the woman in heavy armor to speak.

Around him were gathered the templars of Kirkwall whose gauntlets were attached to lyrium laced chains intended to restrain and suppress the young mage that knelt in within the circle of holy guardians. Behind their Knight-Captain, the Grand Cleric said a few words to bless the proceedings that were about to begin. The youth couldn't completely make out what the woman was saying, but what little that he could decipher honestly bored him.

His robes were stained with dried and freshly stained blood with many cuts and tears while his uncut black hair flowed down his back and over his face like a rag. His arms were covered with multiple cuts and scars from his part in the Viscount's rebellion and his uncaring demeanor seemed underscored by the many bruises that covered his face.

Around him, he felt his templar guards shake with terror. They had seen this youth single-handedly slaughter their comrades and send entire platoons fleeing in panic and fear while he laughed. It was only through the Knight-Captain's skill and valor did anyone survive this newly concluded Civil War.

"Decrepit Worm...you who stand before us for judgement..." The boy yawned again as he listened to Knight Captain Meredith lay down her judgement upon him, "The Maker blessed you with a gift...a gift that was meant to be used in the service of man. A gift that you were to use with responsibility and prudence, a gift that you were deigned to utilize upon a tripwire between righteousness and corruption."

"But here you kneel...your clothes reeking of your sins...your hands hardened by the stone upon which you have crawled...your eyes bereft of all life or care." Meredith continued, "What have you to say after your rebellion is done mage? What have you to say when you are brought low from your power and now kneel before those whom you considered beneath you?"

"What have you to say of your sins? What have you to say of the family whose blood was used to fuel your foul magic? What of the hundreds of parents whom mourn the loss of a child? A child that you murdered and with whose torment you used to fuel your fell magic? What of the hundreds...no...thousands whose blood is stained across the streets of Kirkwall from the lowest dungeon to the highest tower and even to the very steps of the Chantry? What have you to say of the templars, my brave comrades in arms, whom you butchered as dogs whilst they fought to uphold their Maker given duty? What have you to say of the many defenders of the Maker's justice that you crushed within their armor...their blood used to sprinkle and set afire the City Guard as they marshalled against you? What have you to say of the Holy Mothers and Sisters that you forced to dance in a foul and cruel manner before you tore off their limbs and cast them through the hearts of the horrified masses whilst they died within a pool of their own blood? What say you of your fellow mage whose lives were stolen to amuse your lust and increase your sinful power? What say you of the defenders whose bodies were defiled by your own hand for sport and mockery?"

"What say you of your own mother? The woman who brought you into this world and whom you have repaid by taking her life?" The boy suddenly looked up at the Knight Captain with a simple smile, a smile that unnerved all but Meredith, "I have nothing more to say...your guilt was determined long before you were brought before me for judgement. As the Knight Commander was hanged with his own entrails by your hand and the Viscount long since mindless and soulless because of your fell magic...I stand as the sole authority in your judgement. Before I pronounce your judgement, what have you to say for yourself? What have you to say for the family that you killed? The masses you slaughtered? The guards and templars that you murdered? Of the sinful chaos that you spread throughout this Stronghold of the Free Marches. WHAT HAVE YOU TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

"WHAT SAY YOU DECREPIT SPAWN OF MAGISTERS?" Meredith grabbed the collar of the boy's robe as fury colored her face, "MONSTER! DESTROYER! BANE OF LIFE! FEAR OF THE SACRED! DEFILER! DEVOURER! CHILD BORN FROM THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF THE TAINTED DEEPS! SPAWN OF THE DRAGONS! ACCURSED OF ANDRASTE AND THE MAKER! PROFANER OF MORTALS! WHAT SAY YOU? WHAT SAY YOU!"

"I wanted a pony..."

The mage answered with sorrow and disappointment as Meredith's eyes widened in horror and shock, "Preferably an Anders pony, but any pony would've been nice. Even...an Orleisan one...or a Qunari pony...I heard uncle say that they had horns in their mouths and their heads...but it wouldn't matter as long as I had a pony."

"A pony?"

"A pony."

"A pony?" Meredith repeated, "You committed these sins...and forfeited your Maker-given soul...for a pony?"

"Why else would I have done it?" The mage casually asked as Meredith swung her sword and stabbed it's cold steel through the boy's heart. The boy gasped in agony and deliriously laughed as he aged and grew ten years older, "Why does this hurt more than I remember?"

"Because mage...you have grown more aware of your own failings as the Chantry has properly educated you with your place in the world..." Mairon looked up at Meredith who wrenched the blade from his chest and kicked him down the stairs, "I know your kind far too well mage. When you told me that you committed your sins for the sake of a pony...I knew that you lied."

"I'm sorry...I don't really remember you..." Mairon muttered while Meredith stepped down the stairs, her boots printed by the trail of blood that Mairon's fall had left, "Oh wait! You were mother's captain!"

"Yes...yes she was..." Terror filled Mairon's heart as a mage's staff slammed into his back and his body reflexively recoiled in pain, "Oh look...after all these years my littler Arthunas still remembers her mother's touch."

"I specifically remember the touch of that damned rod..." Mairon spat as he looked up and saw Revka Amell in the same broken templar armor that he'd left her in, "The only time that I fondly remember your touch was after you were dead..."

"You don't remember things too well child..." Revka muttered as her staff struck Mairon in his face, "I suppose that I'll have to hit you some more. Captain?"

"Punish this sinful mage Revka..." Meredith said as she kicked Mairon in his bleeding wound, "Punish him for the sake of forgiveness for your sin of birthing him."

"So...knowing that none of this is real will make it hurt any less?"

"Arthunas? What did I tell you about imagining things?" Revka asked while she slammed her staff into Mairon's neck, serenely smiling as he gagged and choked from the lack of air, "The Maker does not smile on those who waste their gifts..."

"But...doesn't he hate parents who beat their children?"

"I'm not beating you...I'm disciplining you out of love..." Revka said before she hit Mairon in his eye, causing the mage to cry out, "Besides...you're not even human...you're a monster..."

"Here I thought I'd enjoy the nap."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Thus we enter the Fade!**

**Seeing as that the Mage Arc is primarily Mairon's Arc since that is his Origin Home, I started out the Fade Dreams with his. All of the Wardens will have their own unique dreams since the Duncan scenario was weak within the vanilla game anyway. Each dream will focus on the wardens darkest fears, desires and dreams from the past and present. Some will be aware that it is not real while others will be too blind-sided to even try to find the seams.**

**With Mairon, this is an insight into his past and his "connection" to Kirkwall that he claims to have had nothing to do with when he first met Bethany.**

**To those who were confused about how Revan defeat Desire Demon addled-Lily, he used her own emotions against her. First pissing her off to get her off of him and then her conflicting emotions would cause her to lash out at the first thing that she saw or touched. Sadly, that was the desire demon and from then on, Revan just had to talk down Tabris and break down the Demon's spell by showing Lily that he was not the source of Lily's anger.**

**I'll conclude this note with a warning for the following section of the Circle Tower Arc: The Fade Dreams will likely be the climax of the arc and will involve an event that will amount to at least 10% of non-faithfulness to Canon. I'm not going to confirm if this has anything to do with the codex that Mairon was reading or if it's an event that will positively affect the wardens. I'm just giving out the warning.**

**Later folks!**


	22. Circle Tower: The Fade I

******Castle Cousland Courtyard******

"I shouldn't be here." Revan said to himself as he stood within a crowd of cheering guards, "This...can't be real."

"Welcome home Lord Revan!" One guard shouted as the noble was led through the happy crowd and even servants where ushering the young man's return.

"Home?" Revan distinctly recalled seeing most of these men and women found slain by Howe's treachery and other's barring the gates that opened before him. Inside, he saw a grand hall with food prepared upon the tables as the gates closed behind him. Revan stepped forward into this place, recognizing every detail, picture frame and candle stand. He saw the flames of the fireplace with fresh logs producing the fuel for the evening fire.

Fire that illuminated the figure of Bryce Cousland.

"Quite the noise outside, don't you think pup?" Revan heard his father ask as he turned from the fire and allowed the noble scion to see his smiling face, "It's good to have you home Revan."

"Home..." Revan said to himself as Bryce pulled him into a firm embrace. Feeling his father's arms around him, Revan exhaled and returned the embrace, "Was...it...all a dream?"

"All of what pup?" Bryce asked when the embrace was released, "I'd imagine that you'd wonder about what's real or not after your journey. You did say that you'd have a tale or two to tell when you returned."

"Let's not strain the boy too much now." Revan heard another familiar voice say as he entered the hall, "Then again, you are no longer the boy who was too thin to fit my belt...a belt that you did not ask for."

"Duncan?"

"Don't worry, I am not here to ruin your return party." Duncan laughed while Revan noted the casual garments that he wore over his armor, "I just wanted to inform you that the King will be joining us."

"But...what about the darkspawn?" Revan asked, recalling the news of Duncan's death and the haunting image of his own father's mortal injuries, "What about Howe...and what he did..."

"Howe...do not worry about him pup." Bryce stated with firm assurance, "Howe hangs for his treachery alongside Loghain...I personally saw to it...and I'd think that the darkspawn would be the least of your worries."

"Don't you remember? The darkspawn are gone, Revan." Duncan said happily, "You slew so many that you probably lost count. But the darkspawn were beaten at Ostagar and the Archdemon slain. Then we pursued the darkspawn into the Deep Roads and utterly destroyed them, don't you remember?"

"I..." Unfamiliar scenes flooded into Revan's mind, King Cailan standing upon a felled corrupted dragon marshalling the valiant warriors of Ferelden to charge against the cowering and weakening hordes of the darkspawn, "Yeah...vaguely..."

"Those were dark times, but now they are done." Duncan stated while Bryce nodded with a smile, "Now we may celebrate our victory...the last great war of the Grey Wardens."

"Duncan told me that now that the darkspawn are destroyed forever, you are released from your duties." Bryce added, "Now you can settle down! Then give me some grandchildren!"

"But you have grandchildren!" Revan's eyes widened when he saw his nephew run into the room covered with mud, "And babies come mothers, not fathers!"

"Yes Oren...but it takes a mother and a father to have a child." Bryce said to Oren while he hugged Revan's leg, "Speaking of father's, when are you going to settle down Shatele?"

"I am settled down!" Revan's breath was taken away when he saw Shatele enter with a tight low cut evening dress that was made somewhat translucent by the thin mud that ran from her chest down to her hips, "I just can't find a suitor who could get past Fergus."

"He'll be around soon enough..." Duncan muttered and turned to the still Revan, "Are you alright? You seem tired...come inside and rest..."

"Rest..." Revan said to himself as a smiling Shatele grabbed his hand and another familiar touch held the other, "Iona?"

"Hello my lord..." The elven maid stuttered while Revan felt his heart soar, "Aedan has missed you terribly..."

"Aedan?"

"Your son of course..."

"Auntie...why does grandpa want more grandchildren when he has me and Aedan?" Oren asked his aunt while Revan allowed himself to pause, "Is grandpa greedy?"

"No...he just wants more cousins for you and Aedan to play with."

"But Aedan's just a baby."

"And baby's grow up young lord." Iona pointed out as Revan hugged her waist and nuzzled her neck, "Revan...not in front of Oren..."

"Are you going to make another baby? Can I watch?"

"He wants to watch...let him watch..." Revan noted while stripping Iona and proceeding to make love to her in front of an unaffected Oren while everyone around them smiled happily...

* * *

><p><strong>Royal Throneroom, Denerem<strong>

"This way my prince."

"Right..." Alistair was still very confused about what was happening. One moment, he falling asleep and then he woke up in Denerem with shiny gold armor and was being led into the Royal Chambers by a servant, "Listen sir...I'm still uncertain about what's going on-"

"And there he is!" The King of Ferelden declared as Alistair entered the Royal hall with shock and amazement, "There's the triumphant hero of the hour!"

"It can't be..." Alistair had only seen him once or twice, but the face of the hero Maric was indistinctable for him, "King Maric?"

"There's no need to be formal Alistair, we are family after all." Cailan said as Alistair noticed his very alive form embrace him in a heavy but welcoming hug, "Welcome brother! Now we can be one happy family!"

"Happy family..."

"Of course...don't you remember Alistair?" Alistair's face became estastic and joyful when Maric approached with a certain Warden Commander next to him, "Now that the darkspawn are gone, all wardens have been discharged from active duty."

"But...you're..." Alistair's reason took a backseat when he jumped on Duncan and tightly embraced him, "I thought you were dead!"

"And I was eaten by a dragon!" Cailan laughed with everyone including Alistair joining in the celebration, "I don't blame you though, I hardly kept track of you during that tough little battle of ours."

"I bet it was...though I don't exactly remember it as all of you do..." Alistair stated while recalling the horrific outcome of the battle of Ostagar, "I'm just...glad that you're all alive..."

"Alive and merry son!" Maric cried while patting his son on the shoulder, "It sounded like a war unlike any that has ever been seen. A shame that I didn't break out of that prison in Antiva until after the Archdemon was slain!"

"Too slow father, I suppose that all the glory goes to me."

"Don't forget whose king now Cailan!" Maric said while happily wrestling his oldest son and then grabbing Alistair, "You too boy!"

"Hey! Hey! No fair!" Alistair yelled while pushing off his father and tackling him into the floor before Cailan joined the developing pile, "Come on! We've almost got him!"

"I yield! I yield!"

"Mercies for Orleisan cheese lovers!" Cailan cried out as he and Alistair pinned down their father until he threw both to the floor and stood on his feet, "Oh well...there's always next time..."

"We'll see boy." Maric stated while helping both sons to their feet, "Come on now...you don't need to keep me waiting Alistair."

"Waiting on what?"

"Your fiancee!" Maric exclaimed as Alistair felt his legs give way as he slumped to the floor, "Are you alright son?"

* * *

><p><strong>Arl of Denerem's Estate<strong>

"Think I went too far on that one!" The guard laughed as Lily gagged and allowed the human's white fluid to splash from her mouth while she starred daggers at the man's now relaxed manhood, "Oh well...when can I get a turn with the other one Lord Vaughen?"

"I tire of this one..." Vaughen boredly said as he sat and thrusted into Lily's cousin who rocked up and down with a vacant expression in her eyes, "She's not even struggling anymore...granted, I did just let about five others have a turn with her...now where's that bridesmaid?"

"You killed her my lord..." The guard said while pointing to the naked elven woman who lied next to Lily with a large gash in her chest and neck, "Still a good time even while dying!"

"I'm sure that she was!" Vaughen agreed when he climaxed and threw Shianni onto the cold floor. While the guard thrusted his manhood back into her mouth, Lily watched as Shianni reached out to her as Vaughen urinated on the corpse of Lily's fiancee nearby, "Now for the bitch of the hour!"

"Think she's trying to say something-" The guard cried out as Lily used all of her strength to bite down on his meat and bloodily sever it from his crouch. As the man howled and fell to the ground screaming, Lily practically vomited the man's penis out of her mouth and grabbed his knives to shove them down his throat.

"TOO FAR FOR YOU!" Lily screamed as the man was overwhelmed by pain and blood loss and died with his blood staining Lily's bare skin while she stood and faced the unaffected Vaughen, "So...you wanted a party right?"

"Yes...I did..." Vaughen answered with a laugh while Lily felt her strength waver as he approached her, "So far...your cousin has been adequate...but...I don't think that will be enough for me-"

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Lily cried as she stabbed her knives into Vaughen's neck and kicked him onto the floor. With barely any strength in her legs, she hobbled over to where Shianni lied, "Shianni...it's over now...they won't hurt you again..."

"Liar..." Shianni said as she stood upon her feet and turned Lily's attention to the blood that poured from between her legs, "They will never stop hurting us...and there is nothing that we can do!"

"Vaughen's dead! Shianni!"

"LOOK AROUND YOU COUSIN!" Lily observed the now changed streets to descry the corpses of recently murdered or starved elves. All of whom she had known at some point in her troubled life, "You think that killing one human will make any difference? How does slitting the throat of a single human help our people? We have been slowly dying as their pets..."

"Shianni..." Lily turned back to her cousin, uncaring that her own feet was marred in a pool of blood, "We can't give up...it's like you always said-"

"There's a diamond in every shit pile right?" Shianni finished while raising her open hand to show that it was pierced by many tiny shards of crystal and heavily bleeding, "But how's a diamond going to change things? It's not going to break the bars of our cage..."

"With enough diamonds...we can leave the alienage." Lily told her cousin while holding her shoulders, "I'm a Grey Warden Shianni! I'll have a fortune from the spoils alone and not to mention the payment that I'll get for all of the darkspawn blades that I turn in? That'll be enough to buy our own land and we'll make our own home...away from humans...and then everything will be better. You'll see."

"We're elves Lillian..." Shianni sobbed as she hugged her cousin, "Don't you understand? That is our cage! The cage that the Maker in his grand wisdom put us into...as a sick joke...and we never can escape it...never..."

"Then what do we do? Just sit her and cry?" Lily asked as she felt herself cry as the truth of Shianni's words sank into her very soul, "But...what's the use of fighting? We'll just lose in the end anyway..."

"I'm so sorry cousin...but that's the way things are..."

"Yeah...I know..."

* * *

><p><strong>Greenwood of Arlathan<strong>

"This land?" Gilead asked himself as he walked amidst grass that shone with the light of twilight. Around him, white trees were plentifully full with leaves that captured the light of the moon. His own skin glowed from the cleanliness of the air...the purity of the soil upon which he tread.

"About time you found us!" He heard a voice call from within the woods, a voice that made him dash forward growing more happy than he was concerned. When he entered the woods, he found a face that he never thought to see again, "Hello Seeker."

"Tamlen..." Mahariel embraced his clan brother tightly as both of them laughed as happy as he had ever been, "Tamlen! I'm so happy to see you again!"

"You thought that you'd never see me again?" Tamlen asked with an eyebrow raised, "What made you think that?"

"Because...the mirror and what Duncan had told me-"

"Duncan? What ever do you mean?" Tamlen asked as he showed Gilead the open roofed tree houses that lied within the canopy of the woods, "The eluvian led us here! It led us back to our home!"

"Back to the clan?"

"To Arlathan! To Elvhenan!" Tamlen declared to Gilead's growing delight, "All this time...we believed the humans had destroyed our home. But the Eluvian led us here...to a world without humans...without worry or struggle..."

"If the humans put it here...then..."

"You know how humans are Mahariel..." Gilead turned to see that Merrill had appeared riding a halla, "They forget about the past so easily...they've probably forgotten about this place...and who cares? They can't come here anyway..."

"But...what about the darkspawn?"

"The darkspawn are a human concern." Tamlen stated, "Besides! They have the Grey Wardens to help them! We can live in this place and rebuild our kingdom! Make things the way that they were before the humans enslaved and weakened us."

"You wouldn't want to be like those pathetic City elves would you?" Merrill inquired with a sweet smile, "They just sit on their bottoms and open their mouths for the humans to piss on them and they like it! Why do you think that they gave up the ways of their people so easily in place of the false faith of the humans? We will be stronger than they are..."

"You were always destined to seek and find great things for our people and you have!" Gilead now saw Ashalle emerge from behind a tree and tenderly embrace her foster son, "Your parents would be so proud of you..."

"Ashalle..." Gilead said as he embraced his foster mother and spotted Clan Sabre's Keeper approach, "Keeper Marethari?"

"Welcome child..." A much younger Marethari greeted as more members of Clan Sabre emerged from the surrounding woods to greet Gilead, "It is good to have you home with us...and now...we are all truly home in the place that the elves belong."

"Home?" Gilead asked as the entire situation threw him into a state of satisfied bliss, "Yes...I am home..."

* * *

><p><strong>Roads of the Deep<strong>

Glass broke against the back of his head.

"Don't turn your back on me when I'm talking to you Thorin!" Gimli hated it when Kalah used that word, "Get back now or that legendary oakenshield won't save you me!" Hearing glass fly from his mother's hands, he braced as the glass broke upon his bare back.

"Go back to your piss and drinks woman! I have to find grandfather!" Gimli shouted without looking back as his mother hit him with another glass bottle while he tread through the roads of the deep in search of his gandfather, "Grandpa!"

"You're grandfather isn't coming back Thorin! Just like your good for nothing father!" The way that Kalah used his real name was the reason that chose another equally famous dwarven legend as a nickname. While his father and his sister used it to denote the respect that came with it...his mother used it to mock him, "Who knows! You may find your oakenshield so that I can use it as a club to beat some sense into you boy!"

"Come on Gramps! Don't leave me with this bitch!" Seeing a small figure in the distance ahead of him, Gimli broke into a pace even as one of Kalah's bottles hit the back of his right thigh, "Grandpa! Wait up! The Legion sounds too much better than some bitch who wouldn't know common sense from her beer!"

"You're just jealous. No woman'll be fool enough to fall for you. All you can give her are casteless brats that no one wants."

"Like a chip off the old block, right?"

"Before you were born, men would drop their tools and come running when they saw me. So take your pity and get out of my sight!"

"I would as soon as you stop following me!" Gimli shouted as he finally looked back and saw nothing following him. As he looked back to the path, he saw only a sheer drop that seemed to be getting closer to him, "Great and now I'm itching!"

"It itches...doesn't it?" Kalah asked as Gimli's itch only grew, "Dust town, it sticks to the skin...it's more than a tattoo...it's a brand on your soul. No matter where you go, you'll be marked forever!"

"I don't have time for this-" Gimli suddenly found himself balancing on the edge of the hole and inside he saw thousands upon thousands of unclothed and skinless dwarves gnawning and scratching each other in a mad dash to escape the pit, "No...I'm not going back in! I'm past this damn it!"

"Says who boy?" Gimli heard Beraht ask as the large dwarf pushed Gimli over the edge where he grabbed onto the side of the hole and saw the Carta boss look down upon him with sheer and utter hatred, "Thorin Borin-bastard...never thought that I'd see you again..."

"Same here...especially after I cut off your beard and used it as a glove while I pulled out your throat..." Gimli said with a show of bravery as he kicked down a dwarf that tried to pull him down, "So how about giving me a lift so that we can settle this as dwarves...how about it...Uncle Beraht?"

"You're not even a real dwarf Thorin. That name of your's is just a cheap joke!" Beraht shouted as Gimli felt the dwarven creatures below him began to surge towards him and grab for his legs, "They say that the Legendary Thorin was the reason that Kal-Sharok survived the assault of the darkspawn. They say that he fought through their legions and even killed dragons armed with nothing but a shield made from a burnt oaken tree. They say that Thorin was the rightful King of dwarves and was descended from the first king..."

"What if I told you that it was all true?" Gimli asked as Beraht just thunderously laughed, "Look...every line's got a bad apple somewhere...take my mother for instance. But nothing happens by chance...who else would've had the stones to kill you?"

"Who cares? The Carta has bosses die all the time! How do you think I got the job?" Beraht asked as Gimli felt the hands of those creatures grab onto every part of his body while all he could do was hold on, "Do you think that Orzammar cares about what you've done? Did they congratualate you when you tied against the favored prince? Did they thank you when you killed me and weakened the Carta? Did they honor you when you offered a place within the Grey Wardens? No! They didn't care! Because your dirt! Because your more worthless to them than the shit that is emptied into the rivers of fire!"

"And you were choked to death by something more worthless than shit?"

"Least I'm dead friend." Beraht stated as Gimli felt his grip weaken, "You? You're in denial...you'll always be lesser than shit no matter what you become. Paragon, Rogue, Grey Warden...or even the King of Dwarves...even if you found Khazad-Dum of the fairy tales, it'll never change who you really are!"

* * *

><p><strong>Orzammar Royal Palace<strong>

"Dur...Durin..." King Endrin gasped as Durin stood at his bedside, "You...you are a disgrace to our house..."

"Father..."

"Nine kings have risen up from its ranks and have led Orzammar to greatness even if it's but a shell of the empire that we once commanded..." Endrin continued before he coughed, "But now...you have allowed our people to fall into ruin..."

"You have allowed the runt of our family to bring our house into darkness!" Endrin cried out, "You fell into Bhelen's hands...killing your own brother over a petty argument and being dumb enough to get caught with your hands stained with blood!"

"The argument was very valid-"

"More valid than the stability of our kingdom?" Endrin asked before he gasped for air again, "Bhelen will ruin us...I fear that not even Harrowmont will be enough to stop him...the dwarves will be destroyed by Bhelen's greed and ambition! And it's all your fault!"

"Perhaps if you had assassinated Bhelen before-"

"You expect me to have a hand in the murder of my own child?" Endrin asked in shock, "I hated Trian and I hate Bhelen and the very sight of you disgusts me! But I love you as my own children! I could no more harm you than I could tear out my beard."

"But...didn't you tear out your beard in mourning when mother died?" Durin asked as Endrin loudly gulp, "And...you did order assassins to kill us! Then when Trian demanded to know why you did, you said that any Aeducan who falls to an assassins blade is unworthy to live to produce heirs...ironic considering that Trian was the only one who had real difficulty with them-"

"You would trouble your father with these thoughts as he passes?"

"That's the thing though..." Durin said as Endrin looked upon him with pleading confusion, "You are not my father."

"What?"

"You are not my father."

"Yes I am! I am the King of Orzammar!"

"No you are not...Father wears his crown to bed! He also has young maidens to tempt him and feed his dreams with pleasurable company!"

"I'm dying! Why would I have wrenches when I'm about to expire?"

"They are not wrenches! They are chambermaids and they cared for my father! And occasionally me when I had enough blackmail on them..."

"You disgusting bastard! Are you truly my child?"

"But false father! My father encouraged us to share his chambermaids!" Durin pointed out with laughter, "And threatened to have us castrated with our dwarven-man proof fed to the nugs while we were forced to watch?"

"What kind of family did you have-" Endrin stopped himself with a desperate cough, "How can you deny your own father?"

"Because the pathetic creature in this bed is not my father." Durin bluntly replied while noting the entire room, "For instance, my father had ten helms mounted upon the wall...one for every Provings champion that he had defeated in his youth."

"You would deny your own father because of a trophy?"

"Not exclusively of course...there's also the manner of your sheets." Durin continued while taking of the fabric into his hands, "This was made from the wool of surface sheep. Father hated sheep because they were stupid and easily led to the slaughter. His sheets were weaved from the beards of executed dwarves who had failed to assassinate him."

"I am no barbarian-"

"On the contrary...you were very educated." Durin elaborated by pointing to the empty shelf nearby, "That shelf and every other shelf was filled with books and journals concerning the history of our people! If my father weren't the king, he would have been an excellent shaperate! He even had maps into the Deep Roads! And maps to the surface world!"

"The pattern on this carpet is also very...very wrong..." Durin stated, kneeling down and laughing at the symbol on the carpet, "My father had little care for the Chantry nor it's beliefs! The carpet was ordained with the emblem of House Aeducan upon the blade of an axe."

"Trivialities-"

"On the contrary...what a man keeps, reflects who the man is." Durin answered, quoting his own father, "This empty room tells only of a shallow and pathetic attempt at imitating a great and cleaver king. Every inch of my father's room told his story! From when he was a lad...to the time when he poisoned his older brother to get him killed so that he could become king! Then there was that tabernacle that detailed how he woed my mother by systematically destroying every house who had a suitor that desire her hand in marriage; melting their bodies, their armor and their gold within the furnaces of House Uldra and used them to create the ring that he placed on her hand!"

Endrin was completely silent.

"So...where am I truly?"

"You are in Orzammar-"

"If that were true then the guards would be demanding my head and I would slaughter them before explaining that I have come as a Grey Warden in search of Aid to face the blight-" It was then that Durin remembered being knocked into the ground while within a tower overrun by demons and mages while their magic knights cowered in the first floor, "This is the Fade."

"Stop speaking such nonsense my son!"

"You are the one speaking nonsense for holding to a lie that has been so painfully exposed!"

"IT. IS. TRUEEEE!"

"See! A dying man would not be able to put that much energy into their voice!" Durin pointed out to the false Endrin, "Very well...I shall go now..."

"You would leave your own father on his death bed?"

"My father would not be content to lie within some bed awaiting death unless every bone in his body were broken." Durin stated as he turned and saw that the door was closed, "I see...so I am locked within this magical illusion until some inertia is satiated?"

"You bastard..."

"That was Trian...not me." Durin corrected as he focused and an axe appeared in his hands, "I figured that I could summon an axe to my hands as this is a world formed from thoughts and dreams...no?"

"You are still a disgrace!"

"No matter if I am." Durin said to himself as he approached the false Endrin and raised up his axe, "You're likely counting on my affection for my elder father to restrain me from dealing the killing blow?"

"Maybe..."

"Is it because you are the specter that is directly influencing this scene by using my emotions and remnant guilt to fabricate a situation that will lock me into a state of inaction and despair?"

"Damn dwarves..."

"Thank you." Durin chopped his axe through Endrin's neck as blood splashed upon the sheets and a shimmer of light rose off from the room, "That was easy..."

* * *

><p><strong>Viscount's Keep, Kirkwall<strong>

"I already know the answer to this...but...why are you hitting me?"

"Because you are a mage!" Revka cried out as she slammed her staff into Mairon's back, the mage lying powerless upon the hard floor that was stained in his blood, "Before you were born...my family was the most prestigious in all of Kirkwall! Father was in line to become the next Viscount from the Pierrens...but then you were born! Your birth sullied my family with...magic! Then Leandra ran away with that bastard Hawke...her parents died of disease...Gamlen gambled away the family fortune and I HAD TO JOIN THE TEMPLARS TO WORK TOWARDS PAYING FOR ALL OF DISGRACE!"

"I fail to see how any of that was my fault..."

"Of course you wouldn't mage!" Meredith stated, holding a sword that was well drenged in Mairon's blood, "You mages never understand how your very existence is a curse to all of those around you! You who brought the darkspawn upon our world and even sank Arlathan into the deeps-"

"If I recall...the Chantry isn't exactly guiltless concerning elves either-"

"SILENCE!" Meredith shouted as she kicked Mairon in his head, "Your sins account you on the same level as the sluts of the wild! Creatures of malice with no concern for their fellow man or for the repercussions of their actions!"

"Whatever lyrium addict-" Mairon stopped himself when he caught something that Meredith had said, "How do you know about Morrigan?"

"Did you believe that your sins would be hidden from the Maker-"

"No..how...do...you...know..about Morrigan?" Mairon asked before Meredith kicked him in the face, "If you'd met Morrigan then you'd have probably ran her through by now."

"Silence whelp!"

"And...didn't I kill you mother?" Mairon asked his furious parent as he absently caught her staff in his hand and snapped it in half, "How do you know who Morrigan is?"

"You mean that slut who you're using as a-" The woman stopped herself but scowled when Mairon began to laugh, "Arthunas?"

"That explains that taste in my mouth..." He licked his own lips as excitement thrilled his core upon realizing one simple fact, "You know what that means mother?"

"What care should I have for such a sinful-"

"I'm in the Fade." Mairon stated as a dark aura began to rise from his body, "Which means that none of you are real...but I am...and my body was surrounded by people...corpses...whatever Alistair would be...and I was wounded by Tabris..."

"How dare you speak mage!" Meredith shouted as a ray of Holy Power surged from her hands to smite the bound mage. Though the attack caused a distortion in the air, Mairon was no more harmed by it than a gentle breeze, "Maker...have you forsaken me?"

"I thought that the Maker had forsaken people since we burned his favorite person on a stick!" Mairon laughed as one of his arms was plunged into nothingness, allowing a large clawed arm to appear and grab Meredith's head while Revka screamed nearby, "Hell...considering how hypocritical and pathetic that the Chantry really is...I'm pretty sure that he's just sitting on his throne laughing at you idiots while you beg for his aid against the demons that he created...against the blight that he ordained on the land as punishment for five mages dirtying his lawn!"

"Arthunas...stop this!" While his mother begged, Mairon gestured with his unseen hand and graphically and slowly tore Meredith in half and threw the severed half at Revka, "Please son...please..."

"So...you've seen into my memories demon..." Mairon rightly guessed as his blood stained arm rematerialized, "Come to think of it...you probably know what happened to the mouse."

"Mouse? What mouse-"

"THE MOUSE THAT I SHOT DURING MY HARROWING!" Mairon laughed as he fired whips of lightning at Revka that illuminated her body while he stood over her and tormented her with his returning power, "All that terror about the Harrowing and I was done in less than ten minutes. They said that I couldn't trust anything but myself...so I just killed everything that I saw! IT WAS THE MOST BORING SLAUGHTER THAT I'VE EVER TAKEN APART OF!"

"What...what...what are you?"

"You tell me dear mommy..."

"I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER!"

"I took a nap because I figured that I'd enjoy it..." Mairon stated while smiling upon his horror stricken mother, "Even if I have to reenact my favorite bed story that I'll tell to my children...the one that got through the nights when I floated from Kirkwall to the Aeonar...the one that lulled me to sleep whenever I was too excited during training...the one dream...that you obviously failed to take into account..."

"What...what story is that?"

"How I killed my mother..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Feel free to be surprised or un-surprised about who broke out of their dream first.**

**I always thought that the Fade Dreams were somewhat random. In short, they used whatever emotion or desire was strongest to get the person to stay within that dream and therefore die a slow and draining death from that situation. For instance, if you're more personally affected by a lack of snu-snu than you are about your financial situation, then your Fade Dream would be you having snu-snu with a line of hot and beautiful women.**

**In short, death by snu-snu.**

**I was really surprised when Zevran's Fade Dream was him being tortured during Antivan Crow training rather than the above.**

**The Fade sequence of the game is one of the most interesting areas because of the personal dreams and the strange puzzles that you have to solve within these bizarre environments.**

**At the same time, it's kind of boring.**

**Boring in that you dread going through it in every single playthrough...again and again...because you're pretty much doing the exact same thing in the exact same way regardless of your character class or your abilities. For example, you're always going to have to trudge through every area in search of the form that you need to get to this demon and then you'll have to backtrack to the previous level to find another demon. And you have to repeat this sequence again and again!**

**In a way...that makes it worst than that puzzle at the end of Sacred Ashes that you need to write down the sequence for or else you'll be stuck there for at least an hour in every single playthrough...**

**Here, I'm going to take a que from the "Skip the Fade" Mod.**

**And a little something extra as well...**


	23. Circle Tower: The Fade II

********Castle Cousland Courtyard********

"This is new..." Alistair thought to himself when he entered a grand open doorway alongside his father and brother and came upon a happy family who seemed oblivious to the Rivani Ferelden who was thrusting an "impressive" lance into a blond elf, "Shatele wasn't joking about that..."

"Alistair!" Speak of Andraste and she would appear. The Blond Cousland pulled Alistair into a strong pull that would make an ogre's grip appear weak as the ex-templar gasped for air, "I'm so glad that you could make it!"

"Auntie! Is that the warden who you shot in the knee?"

"Yes Oren..."

"Where's the arrow in his knee?"

"It's an expression Oren..." A now half-dressed Revan replied while walking up to the ex-templar with a subtly grave expression, "Alistair? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? And..." "Who is she? And...how long has he been doing this?"

"Four hours..." Shatele replied, "Not his longest, but a good ceiling to crash on our honeymoon."

"Alright I suppose-" "WHAT?"

"Have you forgotten the face of your fiancee?" Cailan asked with a laugh, "Might I say myself that I hadn't been tied down by Anora, this lovely lass would already be my wife."

"Cailan, be reasonable now...there's plenty of women for all men."

"Of course you'd say that father..." Cailan playfully elbowed the distracted Alistair as Revan robbed himself, "I see that you've recovered finely since the Last Darkspawn war."

"Yes your majesties-"

"There's no need to be formal Revan. We've all shed enough blood together to regard each other as equals." Maric stated as he majestically walked through the hall, "Because of your efforts, Ferelden is saved and Thedas along with it. No more will the Darkspawn plague our lives nor poison the hearts of men."

"Could you excuse us father?"

"Of course son! Don't run off on us now!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Maric laughed while Alistair and Revan left the hall and found a closet that they locked themselves into to, "Confused? So am I."

"None of this is real...is it?"

"Unless King Maric returned to Ferelden in time to save Cailan and Duncan at Ostagar...no...I don't believe it is." Alistair answered the thoughtful Revan, "Then where are we? How did we get here?"

"I remember...a tower..." Revan replied, "Surrounded by a lake...I grabbed an elven woman's breast after she stabbed me in the back."

"What color was her hair?"

"Blue..." Revan answered as his mind processed the memories that arose in his mind, "We were traveling together...we went to the tower to help someone...the elf was with us too...and then...someone told us to sleep and I was back at Cousland Castle."

"We're in the Fade..." Alistair realized with a sorrowful frown, "Damn...I was hoping that this was all real...now it's coming back to me...that Sloth Demon threw us into the Fade...MAIRON TRIPPED ME!"

"Is everything alright in there?" Shatele asked from outside, "Iona and I could keep you company if you wish..."

"No need...we will be out shortly!" Revan called out while he eyed Alistair, "Alright...if this is a dream...then why is my sister your fiancee? Why is Cailan calling you his brother and King Maric calling you his son?"

"I suppose this was going to come up sooner than later..." Alistair exhaled, "That's because...Cailan is my brother...and I'm...Maric's Bastard son with a maid."

"And my sister?"

"Oh! That's what concerns you the most? Takes a little off of my mind-" Revan's glare caused Alistair to keep from finishing his statement, "Look! I've always imagined being lucky enough to have a pretty considerate caring woman as a wife and...right now...Shatele is the only person who've I've met that...fits my fantasy! The Demon must've sensed it and used it in conjunction with-"

"My own memories..." Revan finished as he exited the closet and took in the surroundings of the castle, "Not a day goes by that I do not recall when this place was marred with flames and death..."

"Part of you doesn't want to leave..." Alistair said with realization, "You knew...you knew that this was all a dream...didn't you?"

"Maybe I did at first and afterwards...I didn't care..." Revan confessed without shame when he saw Iona approach carrying a bundle in her arms, "There...my sweet Iona...as vibrant as the day when I first met her..."

"Is that...a baby?"

"She was with child...my child..." Revan stated as the child within Iona's bundle began to cry out, "I did not know until that night...she answered the door and was...killed along with all of my family..."

"But deep down...you're ashamed that you lived and she died?" Alistair asked when Cailan waved from behind the chambermaid, "Just like me..."

"Are you done gossiping amongst yourselves? Come now! We have a feast within!" Cailan declared while hurrying towards Alistair and Revan, "Come now brother! Father awaits to tease and humiliate you!"

"Just like...I wanted a family that loved me because they did...that didn't care for me because they had to..."

"Alistair? Why the long face? This is a day of rejoicing!" Duncan said happily when he appeared behind Revan and Alistair, "Our two families will soon be joined as one through your union with Shatele. Surely this is an appropriate time to celebrate?"

"Duncan? Where has King Maric been for the past five years?" Revan asked while turning from Iona, "If I recall...he was lost at sea...no?"

"Maybe he swam home?" Oren asked while holding onto the shoulders of a mud-covered Shatele, "Right Auntie?"

"Of course Oren...Maric did trek through the entire Deep Roads while hauling an Ogre!"

"It was worth the decoration, huh Alistair?" Maric asked while holding up a long cloak with the horns of an Ogre adorning the collar, "A wedding gift fit for a beloved prince!"

"How old are you Alistair?"

"What does that matter?"

"So...has Maric ever explained to you why you weren't involved in his life until now?" Revan inquired, "If the whole family is here, then where is Alistair's mother?"

"She...died giving birth to Alistair-"

"And what was preventing you from taking in your own child?"

"Why do you debate such dark trivialities when a feast awaits you?" Duncan asked the two wardens, "Your fathers have offered you peace in exchange for your labors. Your families will soon become one in peace and happiness...I would have thought that you would be happy to see such times."

"Duncan...the triviality is that Maric now claims to be a loving father though he never so much as acknowledged him from the time he was born until he disappeared-"

"Looks like that ogre really hit you in the head." Maric remarked and turned to Alistair, "I've always acknowledged you as my child, but there was no need for you to be caught up in royal politics. You were happy with Arl Eamon and as a Templar, weren't you?"

"Well...yes...I was..." Alistair replied as his eyes took on a glassed appearance, "But..."

"You weren't happy as a templar, Alistair. Don't let them deceive you." Revan said to his fellow warden while trying very hard not to glance at Oren or Iona, "The wardens were the first real family that you had ever had. Duncan was your true father-"

"I did what I had to in those times. The wardens needed men of greatness and bravery like Alistair and he accepted the call." Duncan added in, "Just as you accepted the call when the Blight came upon the land."

"Regardless it doesn't change the oddness of Maric's so-called love." Revan shot back, the light in the courtyard fading as he spoke, "The Duncan I remember would never hand-wave such a triviality."

"The Duncan you knew was a man forged by hardship and war. I am different now-"

"Duncan once told me that a man's past is part of who they are. Even in times of peace, those scars will fade but remain as they should."

"And what of your scars, Revan? Do you truly wish for them to remain upon you?" Revan's breath chilled when from the shadows emerged men bearing the crest of Howe, "For instance...the scars of your nightmare...the one where your family all perished."

"What...I thought that Howe had been hanged-"

"Yes Alistair, but these shadows are created by Revan's heart." Duncan told the ex-templar as the Couslands remained still and ignorant of the assassins that approached, "Shadows that require death and destruction for the one who creates them."

"That's not true! I didn't want it to happen!" A realization dawned upon the Cousland and sadly he turned to sweet Iona, "Forgive me..."

"What for Revan...I love you." Iona said with a smile as two assassins mobbed her and repeatedly stabbed the crying bundle in her arms before mutilating her body, "I...always will..." She dropped the bloodied bundle and fell on top of it as all others save Duncan, Alistair and Revan remained oblivious.

"How does your scar feel Cousland?" Duncan asked as silent tears fell down Revan's face, "I offered peace and you did not accept...now the family that could have been...will never be."

"So be it..."

"Revan stop! Don't you understand that-" Alistair stopped when saw Shatele cry out while she was held back from saving Oren. The poor child was being thrown and caught upon multiple edges of the assassins daggers, "STOP IT!" Alistair moved to draw his arms, but found that they weren't there.

"A man must accept the consequences of his actions, Alistair." Duncan coldly stated as Shatele's dress was torn from her body and the snickering assassins carried her into the shadows, "After all...a scar is part of who a man is."

"Revan..." Bryce staggered into the courtyard, multiple blades sticking out of his body and blood pouring from his missing left arm, "You swore...you swore to protect the family..."

"You are not my father..." Revan sadly said as he turned away from the dying lord, "Nor are you the true Duncan."

"Has anyone seen father? He's vanished again-" The jovial Cailan was cut off when the dragon of Ostagar swooped down and bit off the upper half of his body and left only a pair of burnt legs standing in place.

"Cailan..." Alistair muttered in utter disbelief and turned to Revan in raw rage. He walked up to the noble scion and grabbed his neck, "WHY? WHY DID YOU LET THEM DIE!"

"Because they weren't my family Alistair...you know this..."

"They loved you-"

"And that why I can't stay here...why we cannot remain here." Revan shoved Alistair's hands from his neck and turned to Duncan, "Now let us go...or will we have to slay you demon?"

"We? Alistair...surely you will not listen to this madman." Duncan pleaded with the ex-templar while Alistair's gaze wavered between Duncan and Revan, "With the shadows of his mind, he poisons peace and destroys happiness. Why must you toil in sorrow and suffering when you can rest from your labors."

"Labors that remain unfinished." Revan stated while the walls of the castle collapsed around the three wardens, "I will only put down my sword when my task is complete...not a minute before!"

"Have your sorrow and your darkspawn then..." Duncan drew out the signature sword and knife that Alistair remembered him always having and approached Revan, "Alistair...surely you will stay at my side..."

"Alistair will do what he must do..." Revan nodded to Alistair as the ex-templar saw a fallen sword behind Duncan, "What he wants to do..."

"That I will..." Alistair nodded back and walked past Duncan to grab the sword, "I suppose we should end this then..."

"Yes Alistair we should." Duncan agreed while Revan stood in place with his arms held out from his sides, "Accepting your fate-" On instinct, the grey Warden turned to face Alistair but was too late.

"I'm sorry...Duncan..." Alistair whispered while his blade pierced through both of Duncan's lungs and a heart while the Warden-Commander gave a single breath, "But you taught me...that Grey Warden sacrifices everything to face the Blight...even the heaviest of costs..."

"So he did..." Alistair released his grip on the sword and allowed Duncan to stalk forward and fall upon his face, blood staining the decaying floor of the Cousland Courtyard.

"I...I can't believe I...did that..." Alistair stuttered tearfully, "I killed him...I know that it wasn't Duncan but..."

"Alistair..." Revan pulled the ex-templar into a firm embrace while tears flowed down his own face, "If there was any other way..."

"But there wasn't..."

"No...there wasn't..."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Arl of Denerem's Estate<strong>  
><strong>

"We should leave...lets...go home..."

"Why bother? The humans will destroy it..."

"It's not fair..." Lily murmered to herself and looked upon the hanging corpses of her people, "We did what they wanted and they killed us...we resist and they kill us...we appeal to the Maker and he ignores us..."

"Oh sod...shut up!" The air grew less heavy when Lily spotted the slowly approaching figure of morrigan in an orlesian-styled version of her robes, "I come all this way to help you escape and you're sitting in a pile of corpses crying yourself to sleep when you're so close to escaping."

"Escaping?" Lily laughed and stood to face the Witch of the Wilds, "There is no escape...you wouldn't understand..."

"Then allow me to attempt a guess..." Morrigan replied and surveyed the stark area where she had arrived, "We are in Denerem? The home of the noble who you murdered?"

"Yeah...not a lot of help that it did though..."

"And she is your cousin? This sad...sad creature..." Morrigan remarked while looking upon the broken visage of Shianni, "And the elves dead and raped were members of your Alienage?"

"The story speaks for itself..."

"Your fiancee is dead, your mother is dead, your people live in shit, your father likely believes you dead, your cousin was brutally raped by a human drunk with power, and in general, your life sucks and is completely unfair." Morrigan lightly guessed, "Well then, get over it."

"Easy for you to say...you're not elven-"

"And neither are you if you are to give up so easily to an illusion." Morrigan shot back and slapped Lily's face, "I've slapped you...what will you do now?"

"Why did you do that-" Morrigan answered by slapping her again.

"Will you stand there and keep accepting my slaps with a proper bitch?" Morrigan asked as her hand was caught by Lily on the third attempt and held in place while the witch saw Lily hold a knife to her throat, "Much better...much more like the smart girl that mother says you are."

"Just leave Morrigan...you can't help us-"

"Then help yourself." Morrigan stated to Lily's surprise, "Shocked? You've never heard of the concept of self-dependence? Is this an alien concept to you or are you merely stupid?"

"How can you stand there and tell me how to live?" Lily demanded, Shianni remaining silent while she knelt on the floor, "You have no idea how it is to live as an elf...sure...you're a mage! But you have power and when it doesn't help...you can hide it...or get more power...we do have that luxury! The world hates elves not matter what...because we're elves...so why bother?"

"Do you wish to live?" Morrigan inquired more softly, "The world is harsh...but that doesn't mean you bend over and let it have its way with you. You take what you can...gain what you need and give nothing back. Because that is how the world works...so how is begging upon the floor going to change anything? It won't! And the more that you despair...the stronger that this illusion becomes!"

"Illusion?"

"It reflects the despair within your own heart...but it is an illusion nonetheless." Morrigan explained as Lily dropped her knife and both women saw it hit the floor without making a sound, "Tell me...what do your elven ears hear?"

"Don't listen to her!" Shianni cried out with tears running down her face, "She's a human Lily...all she wants to do is take and use you like Vaughen did!"

"If I recall...isn't there a human who didn't take advantage of you when he easily could have?" Morrigan asked with a knowing smile that chilled Lily, "I saw everything that I needed to see when I stepped into this dream."

"So...you were caught in an illusion too?"

"A very poorly crafted on compared to your's...but yes. I did."

"How did you get out?"

"By killing the demon that was projecting the illusion." Lily looked from Morrigan to Shianni and saw the knife upon the ground, "Take what you can and give nothing back or beg upon the floor as easy prey."

"Lily...are you really going to listen to a human-" Before Shianni could finish, Lily's dagger had already slashed through her neck. The elf gasped with incoherent noise that didn't belong to any human as she reached for the emotionless Lily and fell upon her back.

"Shianni...never begged..." Lily muttered before dropping the knife onto the decaying imposter and turned back to Morrigan, "Now what?"

"Now we will awaken..."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Roads of the Deep<strong>  
><strong>

"Still in denial duster?" Gimli heard Beraht ask from above him, "Still holding on for some lucky break? Don't bother! It's never coming!"

"Maybe not..." Gimli admitted, his grip on the rocky wall weakening between his decreasing strength and the hairless dwarves that tugged upon his legs, "But I'm not giving you the satisfaction of watching me give up!"

"I don't care either way...you're expendable."

"Then why do you care if I fall-"

"By the sod...what are ya doin?"

"Oghren? What are you doing here?"

"I'm asking the questions!" The berserker shouted while climbing over to Gimli, "Why haven't you climbed outta that pit?"

"It's..kind of hard...when you've got a thousand-" Gimli's grip weakened when he felt more firm hands grab his legs, "Hands that think you're popular!"

"Who cares?" Oghren asked with a sarcastic laugh, "Those are just boneless worms who grasp at anything that they can get to make themselves feel better. No different from the sods in Orzammar."

"And how is this going to help me out of here?"

"Because you've gotta realize that those monsters are only as strong as you're letting them!" Oghren shouted, "You think this is all real? You think that those monsters have any real strength?"

"It sure feels like it friend!"

"Use ya soddin head!" Oghren reached Gimli and grabbed it in order to hit it into the rocky wall that they both hung upon, "Think! How did ya even get here?"

"I was running from that bitch of a mother-"

"NOT THAT! How did you get into the Deep Roads?" Oghren asked again, Gimli attempting to focus despite the grip of the crying dwarves and Beraht's laugh above, "Weren't ya on the surface?"

"In a tower with too many stairs...and a closet that I...shot..." Gimli was beginning to remember, "Then we saw a big breasted woman with horns and a third arm on her hips..."

"Yeah..." Oghren shivered while Gimli's strength began to return to him, "Now ya remember?"

"Weren't we trying to get the mages?"

"That's right! You need the mages to fight the darkspawn!"

"Yeah..."

"Who cares what these ground-humpers think of you? You're already above them...cause you didn't let them talk down to ya." Oghren stated while Gimli's visage softened from despair to cleaver realization, "So...how are ya getting out of this illusion?"

"Letting go..." Gimli released his grip and fell into the pit, landing on his feet next to his trusty crossbow Kalah, "I was wondering where you were."

Then the slaughter of doubt began...

* * *

><p><strong>Greenwood of Arlathan<strong>

Something was wrong...

The air was as clean as could be, the trees were taller than the greatest shemlen castles, his people were free and restored to their full glory and the soil of this land was as untainted as a newborn child. He had found Arlathan and now his clan would live in peace and harmony with the land that they had found.

But Gilead was not at peace.

"Gil...what is the matter?" Gilead turned to his foster mother who looked upon him with concern, "Will you not frolic in the woods of your people? Rest from your labors child! We have found elvhaven!"

"Dark have been my dreams of late..." Gilead confided, "I dreamt that Tamlen was lost...that the eluvian that brought us here was corrupted by the darkspawn...and I was tainted..."

"It was only a dream-"

"Or was it? I do not know whether that was a dream...or if I am within one now..." Ashalle's face turned grave as Tamlen joined her, "Forgive me...I merely speak what is on my mind."

"It was a dream hunt-brother." Tamlen said and pulled the Seeker to his feet, "We are here now...why dwell on things that did not occur-"

"Your right cheek..." Gilead observed and brushed his hand on the right side of Tamlen's face, "Where is your mark of the bow?"

"Mahariel-"

"It is as I feared..." Gilead confirmed with lament that brought tears to his eyes, "This is not Elvhaven...and you are not Tamlen..."

"Much time has passed since we got those tattoos-"

"The gift of the vallaslin is not to be taken lightly false elf!" Gilead shouted and to his regret, saw the forest around him begin to die, "It is a token of our adherence to the Ones who may yet return."

"And where are your markings?"

"I only have one...the real Tamlen would never have asked such a question." Gilead answered as Tamlen's skin began to darken, "As Seeker I am charged to find that which is lost to our people. How can I do so if I am unwilling to return my own feet upon the right path?"

"The shems have corrupted you child..." Marethari threatened with her staff charged with magic and being flanked by Merrill and Fenarel, "It is not the taint of the darkspawn that we must be wary of...but of the influence of the shemlens. Do not become as our City Brethren have-"

"Perhaps they are as they are because we abandoned them rather then fight..." Gilead found himself replying, "We were afraid of the shemlens...so we fled and left them to do what they had to in order to survive."

"But they have turned their back on the ways of our people-"

"DO NOT PLACE US IN THE SAME RACE DEMON!" Gilead shouted and grabbed Tamlen to use as a shield against the arcane blasts of the Keeper and her First. Tamlen looked upon him as his body decayed and smoked while Gilead grabbed the elf's bow and lightly equipped quiver, "You may not be Tamlen...but I still beg your forgiveness..."

"Gilead..." False Tamlen managed as his shoulders decayed into ash, "The fuc-" Gilead then shot through the decrepit head of the false elf and struck Marethari in her throat, causing the old elf to give off an unhuman shriek before she fell onto her back.

"Keeper Marethari-" Merrill and Fenarel were both silenced by the arrows that lodged into their skulls and fell upon their sides.

"I am in the Beyond..." Gilead realized when a decaying tree opened up and he saw Ashalle standing upon a hairless and horribly deformed halla corpse wielding a bloodied spiked mace, "And the demons have ceased to try and deceive me-"

"DIE!" Ashalle demanded and slammed the mace into Gilead's head. Knocking the elf onto the ground and struggling to maintain his consciousness. As Gilead held himself upon his hands and feet, Ashalle's form shifted into that of a Demon of Desire, "I was growing tired of the lies child...weren't you?"

"You feed upon my hopes and my dreams to trap me here...to keep me from wanting to leave..."

"And it almost worked-" The Desire Demon was then showered by the remaining arrows in Gilead's quiver and pinned to a nearby tree, "Damn..."

"The next time that you wish to deceive someone...make sure that every detail is correct." Gilead used a fallen branch as a makeshift arrow which he fired through the demon's skull and unintentionally severed the head from the neck in the process, "I wonder if I can do that in the real world..."

* * *

><p><strong>The Fade<strong>

Mairon was bored.

After escaping from the illusion of the demon who had been "artistically" done away with, the warden mage wondered upon a cliff within an endless green mist. On the other side, he could hear a certain dwarf speak with a lethargic defeated voice that Mairon recognized. Seeking to ease his boredom, Mairon stepped along the ridge, his attention caught between the closing conversation and the black city that remained ever out of reach in the distance.

"You're not alone."

"Right." Niall muttered, "Some random stranger will be my sole companion for the rest of my short, pathetic life."

"At least he's a dwarf rather than something completely uninteresting!" Mairon spoke up, revealing his presence to the unaffected Durin and the terrified Niall, "Miss me?"

"Before the attack...I would've thought that you were the most terrifying thing that I'd ever see..."

"Has the recent Blood Mage rebellion against the Magic Knights changed that?"

"Now that you're here...I'm not sure..." Niall admitted, "What use is it anyway...we're all going to die...I can already feel the demons feeding from my life force."

"So you will die."

"They are feeding from you as well-"

"As you cannot feel this and I do not feel my supposed "life force" fading. The only certainty that you are aware of is that you are dying." Durin stated as Niall teared up to cry, "At least it will not be as painful as your comrades death was-"

"They're dead?"

"If I recall...the Sloth Demon was feasting upon their flesh." Durin answered as Niall broke down and began to loudly weep. Durin rolled his eyes and punched the mage, "That will not aid our situation."

"Besides...we've killed two of the demons...and at least Morrigan will kill one other..." Mairon counted out, "And the rest don't really matter! So how do we escape?"

"We can't...it doesn't matter if you escape your personal dungeon...we're still trapped in the fade..." Niall reported, "The demons...controlling this portion of the Fade are powerful...and they don't want any of you to escape..."

"And what about you? How did you come here?"

"I was...trying to get the Litany of Adralla to use against the demons..." Niall explained, "But as you can see...the demons had other plans..."

"So tell me! Is Uldred truly behind this scheme?"

"Who else would it be?" Niall asked back, "The bastard wanted us to join with Loghain after returning from Ostagar...he said that the Grey Wardens had betrayed the king and that Loghain would free us from the Chantry if we worked with him."

"An interesting bargain..."

"Looking back on it...it was likely an empty lie...at least for anyone who wasn't in Uldred's inner circle." Niall continued, "Wynne returned just as the Senior Enchanters were debating on siding with Uldred and told us the truth about what happened."

"Based on what facts?"

"For one...Wynne has never told a lie and two...the Tower was never in full agreement due to all of the stories that were circling around. Every time Uldred told his story, things kept changing more and more until we weren't sure if Uldred was lying or simply mad...I was in the meeting where Irving ordered Uldred to tell the truth about what occurred." Niall said as a chill ached his body, "When the doors closed and Uldred's blood mages started using their magic...I was half-hiding and half-conscious...I wasn't even sure if I wasn't in a waking nightmare."

"A waking nightmare-"

"So...Uldred likely summoned more demons than he intended and thats why we had to kill so many abominations..." Mairon figured with a haunting smirk, "We've cleared out three and a half floors, so the rest are locked in the Harrowing Chamber?"

"I'd suppose so..." Niall answered, "Probably to break mages with the power of the Fade and turn them into abominations. Then break through the gate on the First Level and leave the Tower..."

"But how? I destroyed the boats."

"Did you now?" Mairon asked unsurprised that Durin had sabotaged their only exit from Kinloch Hold without swimming or traversing a makeshift bridge of fallen debris and flooded strongholds, "Oh wait...I'm a mage...I can just freeze part of the river and row across on that!"

"Assuming the ice can support your weight..." Durin spoke while looking into the dull-green surroundings of the Fade, "As time is afoot...and decreasing with every second...I propose a preposterous plan to escape this Fade. That mass in the distance...what is it?"

"That?" Niall and Mairon turned to Durin's direction to see what he was spying from afar, "You're looking at the Black City."

"Black City? Perhaps it is not black upon closer inspection..."

"Supposedly it's been blacker than the inside of Malferath's ass since the magisters corrupted it by stepping into the city." Mairon figured while yawning, "So what is your preposterous plan Durin?"

"Tell me...what was the Black City before it was corrupted as your Chant claims?"

"It was once the Golden City...the home of the Maker." Niall explained while Durin snorted, "He created the city as the home of those who pass from this world. But the hubris of men corrupted the city when they broke the veil and entered therein. As punishment, he cast the magisters back into the mortal world where they became the first of the darkspawn and thus began the First Blight."

"Preposterous..."

"Yet we haven't heard of your supposedly preposterous plan."

"My plan is preposterous, but it is no more so than the notion that the darkspawn are the result of some divinely ordained punishment." Durin stated while he directed his attention to Niall, "Tell me, do you know of the dwarven version of how the darkspawn came to be?"

"There's no harm in learning..."

"They simply appeared within the underground." Durin explained, "They swarmed through the Deep Roads and began a never-ending war against my people. Every noble house wished to have their own thaig defended, leading to political chaos and a laughably disorganized defense. My ancestor, Aeducan of the Warrior Caste, united the armies of the failing empire and led them to defend the city of Orzammar. They fought well, but most thaigs had fallen at this point and Aeducan chose to hold the line at Orzammar rather than attempt to save the remaining ones. For leading the defense and saving the Dwarven Empire, he was made a Paragon."

"Save the Dwarven Empire? All your ancestor did was lead a desperate defense-"

"And if not for that defense than the dwarves as a whole would have been wiped out and there would be no buffer between the darkspawn and the surface." Durin finished while stroking his beard and turning back to Mairon, "Furthermore, I find it insulting that my empire was broken apart because of your magic, mage!"

"Go cry to big brother then."

"My older brother is dead..."

"I know! That's the joke!" Mairon loudly laughed a laugh that echoed throughout the Fade while Durin nodded about the trap that had been sprung on him, "So what's your plan?"

"Attack the Black City."

"Wha...you surely jest..."

"I do not jest. I propose that one of you attacks the Black City." Durin said while the mouths of the mages were agapped in shock and surprise, "I theorize that the Black City is a key cornerstone structure within the Fade. Afterall...when mages stepped into it by breaking down the Fade...it led to a phenominal change that affected all of Thedas and as a result...the Fade. Afterall, the Fade is simply a realm of collected thoughts and dreams, no?"

"Well yes...but I don't see how-"

"Then attacking the Black City will result in a radical shift within the atmosphere of his constructed environment of the Fade and possibly allow the Veil to break...allowing our minds to escape back into the Real World." Durin concluded while Mairon nodded in understanding, "Or the resultant collision of unparalled power will destroy and kill us."

"Better to burn out than to fade away..." Mairon's arms were now covered with a spiraling aura of blue and red mana that made Niall pause in alarm, "I can't believe that I can channel my own blood while I'm not in my body! Guess I'm still connected to it..."

"Mairon...you realize that this could make things worst-"

"As much merit as your objection may have...I'm going to ignore it since..." The aura focused into a rapidly spinning vortex in his hands which decreased in magnitude, but kept Mairon covered in an aura of dark red power, "IF NOTHING'S VENTURED, NOTHING'S GAINED!"

* * *

><p><strong>Elsewhere in the Fade<strong>

"How do you know where you're going!"

"I don't!" Revan shouted back to Alistair while they passed a boat in the middle of an isolated shallow lake, "Whose imagination put this here?"

"A lazy noble who didn't want to share his boat? Who cares!"

"Good point...I wonder how the others are doing-" That was when the very ground on which the two wardens stood violently shook and the boat was swallowed up by the geyser that emerged from the rapidly rising lake, "Get to high ground!"

"It's just water-" Alistair was corrected when the water turned black and several decrepit hands reached out for the wardens as they climbed onto a nearby ridge, "This is the Fade after all..."

"Maker's Breath...look..." Alistair followed Revan's amazed features and saw a beam of spiralling blue light pierce a black citadel floating in the sky far away, "Now who do you think is responsible for this?"

"Amell?"

"Amell..." Revan nodded just as the lake detached from the ridge and fell into the abyss below while a tower fell from a nearby island and neatly landed a few feet away from the two wardens, "The maze is shifting..."

"What maze?"

"The maze that the demons made to entrap us..." Revan figured as a stream of black flowed from the Black City and followed the blue beam back to it's source, "And Mairon just provoked a darker power...to break this maze..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**The first part of the railroad has now been blasted...**

**Just trust me on this...it's for the best.**

**Over 50 Favorites and Watches? This experiment is paying off a lot better than I'd initially thought. I always had the impression that making something with two starkly contrasted and interchanged tones would ruin it...guess it varies...**

**By the way, whose excited for Dragon Age: Inquisition?**


	24. Circle Tower: Fade III

**Dragon 9:40**

"The Black City?"

"Yes."

"He attacked the Black City?" Cassandra was wearied by her own disbelief and yet it placed recent events into a sensible if ludicrous light, "The Wardens honestly believed that attacking the Black City would allow them to escape the demon's maze within the Fade?"

"It worked...didn't it?"

"Keep going...what did Mairon see?"

"I wasn't there...and you can't exactly take anything he says at face value-"

"He's the only reason that I ever got to meet Bethany." Varric commented and earned a scowl from Cassandra, "What? Things in Kirkwall would've been worst if she hadn't been there."

"You told me that Hawke's sister had died to an ogre-"

"All I said was that she was attacked by an ogre, I never said that she'd died."

"And Ketojan setting himself on fire?"

"Did I ever say that it had killed him?"

"Hawke choosing Merrill over Isabela?"

"That didn't mean he didn't bed both." The Orator laughed from the blush on Cassandra's face while Varric wiped off his face, "And yes, it was Merrill's idea."

"You're both impossible..."

"Continue your story friend."

"Take what you want from this, but this is Mairon's account of the Black City..."

* * *

><p><strong>The Black City<strong>

"Well...well...well...what have we here?"

"I could ask the same thing." Mairon answered while sitting amidst a blacked throneroom and sitting before a black throne filled with a slouching black figure whose white eyes bore a pattern that reminded Mairon of a white sun within a red circle, "Are you the Maker?"

"Does it matter?"

"No...just curious..."

"Curiosity...is that why you struck the towers of my home? Disturbed the long slumber of my absence?" The figure as Mairon felt the throne shift closer to him while the figure looked upon him with a simple smile, "You are either very brave or very stupid to attack my domain. So why did you attack it?"

"On the advise of a dwarf." Mairon answered with a shrug, "He figured that if I attacked the city then the Fade would shift enough for us to escape back to our sleeping bodies."

"No...I am not asking for your intentions..." Mairon felt his breath stiffen as the figure lifted a single hand from it's armrest and it faded from a static form into a misty fume that flowed into Mairon's direction, "I'm asking why you attacked my city?"

"What if I told you that I had nothing to lose?"

"That would be a lie, Arthunas." Mairon exhaled while the figure just laughed a sound that boomed throughout the blackened city, "Are you afraid right now?"

"Very much so...it's kind of fun..."

"Is that why you disturbed me? To feel the sensation of fear?"

"Maybe..." Mairon admitted, "Any fool can dominate muggles with their power...the history of the world is a simple rotation of domination and power. But what few can do is strike against what they don't see..."

"It is in your nature...you fear what you don't know." The entity's fume surrounded Mairon's body while the mage saw a sadistic smile appear upon it's features, "But you...you wished to face this fear in order to test yourself? You wished to incite the unknown..."

"Did I mention that this was the idea of a dwarf-" Bearing the unfamiliar emotion of fear, Mairon watched the fume form into a horned scaled wolf that drooled as it looked upon Mairon.

"WELL HERE I AM!"

"So it's a supper that you want?" Mairon inquired and charged both hands with bolts of arcane might as the fume roared at the mage, "ALLOW ME TO SERVE YOU!"

* * *

><p><strong>The Fade<strong>

"Maker no...this is not good..." Niall muttered in sheer disbelief as Durin spied the Black City through the distance of the Fade, "What were you thinking?"

"That attacking the Black City would move the foundations of this place to our advantage which it has." Durin explained, curious about the black tendrils that sprouted out of the city, "Though Mairon's survival is currently questionable."

"I fear that we have provoked a power that even the demons fear."

"Good! It will divert their focus! Shortening the length of this maze and the inevitability of our escape!"

"Or it will make them more desperate."

"Therefore easier to outsmart."

"Ever heard of the story of a cornered mouse?"

"Irrelevant for we are not mice."

"It's more to the point about the lesson in the story."

"What is there to learn in the plight of a cornered mouse?"

"A cornered mouse will fight more viciously because it has nothing to lose."

"And the observant cat will kill and eat the mouse nonetheless."

"I think I was better off alone..."

"Then go to the other side of the island if you want."

* * *

><p>"And?"<p>

"I'm going to build some tension, plus that's everything reliable that Amell ever told me."

"I don't care if he believes it irrelevant, I want to know everything!" Cassandra demanded and grabbed the cuff of the Orator's shirt, "Listen here! This mage's actions may have been the tipped domino which started the crisis that is waging behind this stronghold! Every little detail which you tell me allows me to connect the dots on how this crisis started and how to stop it!"

"Ah...I liked being able to pen it all on my stupid brother-"

"You're not off the hook either dwarf!"

"I'll take credit where ever it is due."

"How did the wardens escape the Fade? Start there!"

* * *

><p><strong>Pedestal of the Fade<strong>

"Where the hell are we?"

"In the Fade."

"Don't get smart Morrigan." Lily warned while the two women traversed a narrow rocky bridge within the constant turbulence of the Fade, "We go here when we dream right? So why can't we make a ship that can fly through air?"

"A flying ship? You elves and your imaginations."

"You can turn into a spider! I don't think you have a right to call bull shit on my ideas!"

"I believe I can. My abilities are things that you can perceive. Your ideas are merely conjurations of imagination."

"Don't act a flying ship wouldn't be cool."

"Why would I need a ship to fly when I can transform into a bird?" Morrigan asked while Lily pouted, "Jealous? Am I not an unnatural abomination, to be put to the torch?"

"The Chantry condones the oppression and discrimination of my people, do you think I'd judge you? We're in the same boat...except you can turn into birds and spiders."

"Amongst other things."

"No need to twist the knife." Lily said when the two of them finally came to a solid platform with a strange alter in it's center, "By the way...thank you for helping me back there."

"You are a Grey Warden and you'll be needed to face the Blight."

"If I had died, there would be six left-"

"And one less to kill the Archdemon." Morrigan corrected and then smirked, "But...you are the only warden with her head in the right place. The rest are either too stupid, too pretentious, too noble or too blood-thirsty. You...you're a smart girl."

"You could've just said your welcome."

"Saving you wasn't done out of charity or any touchy motive born from unchecked emotion. If you want these things, then go to your Cousland lover."

"The shem is not my lover!"

"And the torn outfit? Did the demons interrupt you before he could plunge his thick third arm in between your open legs?"

"I killed the last noble that wanted to skewer me with this third and his whole household of guards and banns. Why would Cousland be any different?"

"Fair enough, then why are you blushing?"

"Shut up! That's not what happened at all!"

"Then what did?" Morrigan's eyebrow raised while Lily struggled between letting her win her game or telling the disgraceful truth, "Men are always willing to believe two things about a woman: one, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive. Sadly, you appear to be the exception that makes the rest of us look bad."

"Let's just get out of here..." A red-faced Lily said as the women came to the pedestal with a marked dias upon it. One that had glowing and unglowing dots that connected together into an uncomplete pattern resembling half of a multi-pointed star, "Any ideas Morrigan? I'm drawing blanks."

"Tis unsurprising, this is a Fade Apparatus...possibly how the demons can keep track of us." Morrigan figured while examining the dias, "And the energies keeping us in our cage have been disrupted."

"By what?"

"Not what who...likely Durin and Mairon since they apparently escaped first." Morrigan concluded as she read the strange evershifting Fade map, "The unglowing parts must be where someone is still trapped in an illusion like we were. Whenever the illusion is broken and the connected demon killed, the trap becomes weaker and access to our escape more likely."

"This spot in the middle?"

"That must be where the Sloth demon that trapped us here lies. But first we must free the others though I'd much rather try and leave by ourselves."

"Thanks for the thought, but we'll have an easier chance of escaping with greater numbers."

"There's a smart girl." Morrigan complemented, "But alas there is a greater problem...the distortion of fade energy that Mairon and Durin caused will likely strengthen whatever demons are still alive along with their illusions."

"You mean we might be stuck here after all?"

"Unless the others can overcome the Sloth demons...then yes, we will be stuck here."

"Makes you wish there were ale around."

"Practicing another drunken dance for Cousland?"

"Remind me to kick your ass when we're out of here."

"Of course, you are welcome to try."

"In the meantime...can you send someone to one of the other spots?"

* * *

><p><strong>A Burning Tower within the Fade<strong>

Within a citadel surrounded and painted in violent flames, two warriors carved their path through conjured spectres of corrupted horror. An ex-templar was front most of the pair, stabbing and slashing through the masses of enflamed creatures and tossing aside others. Those who were tossed aside or left unmolested were hacked and cut down by the spirit warrior who brought up the rear.

"Why is everything on fire?"

"We're in the Fade Alistair, this could be a pyromaniac's dream."

"Can't we ever appear in a farm girl's dream?"

"Then we'd have to kill sheep."

"Given the choice between sheep and darkspawn..."

"You sick bastard..."

"Royal bastard to you." Upon reaching a crossroads within the hallways, the two warriors brought their backs together and proceeded to finish off the remaining hurlocks that attacked. Revan switched to full offense, flurrying his swords through burnt flesh with complete faith in Alistair. The ex-templar used shield and sword to parry and swipe down his foes and defend both wardens by the spears and arrows shot upon them. He then shot out his hand out towards a hurlock emissary and smote the wicked mage with the Maker's Holy Might. Revan stab-tackled the stunned mage and ripped it apart from hip to shoulder as Alistair decapitated a shriek that had attempted to backstab the glowing warrior.

"How many people actually have nightmares about darkspawn on fire I wonder?" Revan muttered as the two wardens sheathed their bloodied weapons, the hallway behind them littered with darkspawn corpses, "Maybe a survivor from Ostagar..."

"Lily does like to set things on fire..."

"Only when necessary...this is more likely Gimli's dream."

"Nehraa Beresaad!" Both wardens were proven wrong upon seeing a familar bronze giant declare victory alongside a pack of other horned giants, "Katara, bas!"

"Sten?"

"About time that we saw a friendly face-"

"Basra Vashedan," Alistair was proven wrong when several of the kossith pointed their weapons at him and Revan, "Vinek kathas."

"What did the qunari just say?"

"To seize the foreigner trash."

"Kost, Ashaad," Sten stated to the warriors who stood down without question, "I know these Kabethari."

"I'm so glad these misunderstandings are worked out," Alistair signed in relief and was roughly grabbed and lifted by Sten, "You're not?"

"Why are you here?"

"The same reason that you are here. We're all in the Fade." Revan said to the Qunari commander as he dropped Alistair onto his feet, "This must be your dream."

"It is not." Sten stated while the qunari behind him all relaxed though they looked upon to the wardens as though they were foxes that needed to be skinned, "I awoke surrounded by my brothers as the Arishok came amongst us. He bowed to me and declared that my task had been accomplished. I was to take his place as Arishok for my success in destroying the darkspawn and because of his failure."

"Failure to do what?"

"Retake a book from a pirate." Alistair failed to hold in a laugh while Revan smirked at the honestly ridiculous scenario, "As the reason was too stupid to be true, I killed the false Arishok and fought my way here with my brothers."

"Who are these Kabethari, Sten?"

"They are known to me Karashok that is all you need to know." Sten said to the armored qunari who walked away huffing, "Just as bull-headed as I remember..."

"Sten, you do realize-"

"They are not real, they are phantoms of the Fade." Sten admitted with a hint of remorse, "I remember watching the Karashok lose his head to a dwarf darkspawn, I saw Karashok have his spine ripped out by a horned darkspawn beast, I heard the Karashok cry with an arrow in his knee and a broken blade through his throat."

"Which Karashok was what again?"

"Karashok lost his head, Karashok's spine was removed from his body and Karashok was stabbed in the neck and in the spine."

"Which one is Karashok?"

"They are Karashok." Sten stated while pointing out the other qunari, "That one with the spears is Ashaad, the four armored kossith are Karasaad, The one with a tattoo upon his shoulder is Karashok, the one with a broken horn is Karashok and all of the others are Karashok."

"That helps." Alistair said sarcastically, "You realize that they are probably demons in disguise."

"The same occurred in our dreams, the demons looked into our thoughts and used them to disguise themselves to trap us." Revan explained, "The same thing is happening to you. Except that these demons are moving along with you."

"Why do you listen to these Kabethari?" Karashok objected, "They are not of the Qun-"

"You will wait because I command you."

"Then I refuse to obey-" Sten proceeded to back-hand the qunari who then began to walk away sobbing like a little boy.

"A true qunari would never have questioned me or cry like such a child." Sten muttered shaking his head in disgust, "This Karashok was my strongest soldier, he was the last to fall when we fought the darkspawn."

"Is that how your men were killed?" Revan inquired while Sten scoffed, "You know that this is an illusion, you know that these demons will kill you at any moment. Why stay here? If we are to help you then you must also help us."

"For what purpose?" Sten asked as if pleading, "There is nothing beyond this dream...even if it is a dream it is a good dream. If I leave, I will return as a nobody."

"You are Sten of the Beresaad! The Vanguard of the qunari peoples!" Alistair told the giant, "Is this really how you want to die?"

"I have lost my sword."

"Then just get another one-"

"That sword was meant for me and me alone! I was to return with it in my hands or die wielding it in battle." Sten explained while holding up his empty strong hands, "If I return to my people without it, they will kill me on sight and I will be remembered as a coward who dropped his sword."

"What if I promised to help you find it?" Revan asked the commander, "Where was the last place that you had it?"

"Lake Calenhad...if it is there, it may be broken."

"It can be reforged, the Qunari never said anything about breaking the sword did they?" Revan pointed out, "But I can't let you stay here. You vowed to follow me and help the Grey Wardens end the Blight. I intend to hold you to that promise."

"If I refuse?"

"Then I'll kill you here and now and leave your soul to be devoured by the demons that have deceived you." Revan affirmed to the qunari, the energies of the Fade summoned upon his body, "What do you desire? An empty dream or a meaningful death?"

"Are those really the only choices we'll give him?"

"The Karasten speaks truthfully..." Sten admitted though he longingly looked upon his waiting and laughing brothers with regret, "My brothers are well-trained, false or not. They will not be easy to slay...Karashok, come here."

"Yes Sten." Karashok approached Sten who had hardened his features for what was to come, "What do you command-" Sten then grabbed the Qunari's head and twisted it about 450 degrees on it's axis.

"For impersonating my false brothers." Sten stated as the dead Karashok fell and Sten took up his over-sized sword, "Come Kabethari! Ataash Nehraa Qunari!

"What is a kabethari?" Alistair's question would have to wait as a harpoon impacted against his raised shield, "Nevermind." The three warriors charged down the false qunari with Revan cutting down Karashok as Sten decapitated Karashok and Alistair stabbed Karashok through the chest. False or not, the qunari were powerful warriors and weren't easy to fight even compared to demons or darkspawn. Revan had been stabbed through his shoulder and side by two Karashok that were working as one while Alistair's shield was destroyed by the blade of an Karasaad that even towered over Sten.

"Katara Basra!" Sten shouted as he stabbed through a Karasaad and two Karashoks with a single thrust of his sword. Alistair picked up a fallen shield and used it to bash in the leg of an Ashaad and stabbed into his exposed armpit and used him as a makeshift shield from the Burst of Fade energy that Revan had unleashed upon the qunari around him. The blast evaporated the demons in qunari form and struck the rest of the group to partially expose their disguises.

"Mind doing that again?"

"I need to leave some for you..." Revan tiredly replied as the two wardens and Sten cut down the exposed demons until only one Ashaad was left. This qunari was bearded with many scars upon his face and a broken horn, "Know him Sten?"

"This demon takes the form of Ashaad who was amongst the strongest of Ashaad. He died first upon the blade of a Shrieking darkspawn." Sten said as Ashaad's form distorted and grew into a flaming Wrath Demon formed of hardened sludge and blades upon his wrists, "Now he is no longer Ashaad."

"Glad he ditched the disguise. I don't think it fit."

"Wit is the lowest form of intelligence."

"At least it's entertaining." The warriors charged again, Sten in the center position with the wardens on his flank. The Demon punched out at Alistair who ducked under the blade as Sten stabbed his sword into the exposed arm. The demon roared when Alistair stabbed upwards with holy might to cause the affect arm to partially crumble as the demon charged a bolt of fire in it's other arm. The bolt fired out and was countered by a focused Fade Burst from Revan as Sten pulled the demon forward to impale it on Sten's sword.

Sten looked into the roaring demon's eyes as the ignored wardens stabbed the creature's shoulders to prevent the usage of it's arms and pulled off the blade from the demon's crumbling arm to stab it in it's roaring mouth. The two wardens slammed their blades into the blunt end of the improvised spear and hammered the blade further through the demon's skull.

"Great! Now we can leave...yes?" Alistair inquired as the demon's corpse faded along with the entire area around them, "Maker's breath...what's happening now?"

* * *

><p><strong>Mages Asunder and Fade<strong>

"Ah shit!" Lily shouted as the particles of the fade dropped her into a wrecked library destroyed by battle between mage, templar and demon, "Wonder whose dream this is?"

"No one is left..." Lily heard a voice cry out, choked by raw brief, "I failed..."

"Follow the voice..." Lily muttered to herself as she did just that, carefully stepping through the myriad of corpses that were strewn upon the floor, "The very familiar voice...unless it's a trap."

"Maker forgive me, I have failed them all." Lily heard the old mage lament as she approached the weeping enchanter. The woman's visage was empty and lifeless as she looked upon the slain bodies that surrounded her, "They died and I did not stop it."

"Ah...Wynne?"

"Who is there?" Wynne demanded and turned to see Lily approach her, "What are you doing here? This tower is forbidden to outsiders."

"You looked like you could use some help."

"That help has come too late..." Wynne bitterly replied as she knelt next to a dead boy, "They are all gone...all of them."

"Not all of them, they still need you in the real world."

"You insinuate that this is all a dream?" Wynne demanded as if ready to freeze Lily on the spot as her face seemed to grow older by the moment, "I cannot disbelieve what I see, hear and feel..."

"You were just like I was..." Lily realized, remembering the illusion that she herself had to dispel...despite how real it felt and knew exactly how Wynne must have been feeling then, "I know that you lost apprentices, but you can't let your failures stop you."

"Rhys...Aneirin...If failed them and yet the Maker allowed me to live...Why was I spared if not to help them?" Wynne asked pointing to the savagely slain apprentices around her, "What use is my life now that I have failed."

"Wynne..."

"Leave me to my grief!" The enchanter swatted away Lily's hand and turned back to the corpses, "I shall bury their bones, scatter their ashes to the four winds and mourn their passing till I too am dead."

"You've fought templars and demons, but you're going to let this illusion destroy you?"

"Your blatant disregard for the souls strikes me as utterly inappropriate!"

"It's not real."

"Why must you make this more painful? And where were you when all of this was happening?"

"I did not do this to us."

"Us? I trust you as an ally and you were not there when we...they needed you most." Wynne accused, "The Grey Wardens are meant to save all of humanity, but mages don't count in the general definition of human do they? You see us as monsters no better than the darkspawn."

"I'm not human." Wynne reminded the old mage and brought out her knife to the mage's through while Wynne charged a bolt of magic in each of her hands, "Just think...how did you end up here? Just think and if that's too much to ask? Maybe a little less blood in your head will fix that."

"I do not know what this will accomplish, but I will do this. If it will satisfy you." Wynne agreed, closing her eyes in concentration as Lily studied the fading mana in her hands, "Tis difficult...to focus...It feels as though something is...stopping me from focusing...perhaps some time away from this place will help me."

"I'd agree-"

"Don't leave us Wynne..." Lily's blade ran across Wynne's neck as the elf screamed in utter horror at the dead apprentice that was now standing and talking "We don't want to be alone..."

"Stay Wynne..." As Wynne clutched her neck and healed the cut, another apprentice pushed herself onto her remaining leg, "Sleep soundly in the comforting embrace of the earth."

"Do not fight it..." The child said to calm the horrified women, "Come...come away to your rest..."

"Come stay with us Wynne..." Another mage with long black hair chanted, "Stay with us...forever and-" Lily's knife was embedded into the mage's face thanks to a timed through Lily and the mage fell to the floor.

"Lillian...are we in the Fade?"

"Yes, we are Wynne."

"How dreadful..." Wynne spoke as the mage's corpse turned into a shrieking ghoul that savagely pulled out the knife only to die shortly afterwards, "They are demons...projecting my own regret upon me."

"I fell into the same trap too." Lily and Wynne stood back to back as the remaining apprentices shed their disguises and took on their true hideous forms, "I'm good with one knife, but I'd feel better with two. Mind covering me?"

"As long as you don't cut me again." Lily rolled under Wynne's arm as she fired an arcane bolt at the tusked goat-fox demon that swerved to dodge as the other two demons cast their own spells at the enchanter. Wynne blocked the attacks with an arcane shield and fired a fist of stone at the goat-fox before it could attack Lily. Tabris seized the opportunity and stabbed one knife in the demon's neck and the other through it's lower jaw, applying her strength to wrench off the demon's head and kick it at the stag-man.

Said hideously deformed stag-man caught the head in it's enlarged mouth and nastily crunched down, preventing it from helping it's fellow demon as Wynne froze it and broke it in half with a Stone Fist. Now all that remained was the Stag-man demon who breathed out a surge of electric fire towards Lily and Wynne that caught the elf on her shoulder. Wynne focused her mana and clashed it against the demon's attack, causing the demon's own power to be propelled back upon him and caused it's body to heavily decay from within.

"These demons attempted to use my despair to ensnare me..." Wynne muttered as the library around her and Lily began to fade around them, "Where are we going now?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

* * *

><p><strong>Chanter's Nightmare<strong>

"Then I killed all of them and found my way to you."

"Rough story." Gimli said to Gilead after the elf had told him about how he had escaped his Fade-induced illusion, "Where's Oghren?"

"Perhaps he has already awoken?"

"As heavy of a sleeper as he is? I seriously doubt it." Gimli answered the elf while the erry surroundings began to resemble a burned down chantry chapel, "Now assuming I believe in this Fade crap, which I don't."

"Denial is the first step."

"Where are we going?"

"Into the dreams of one of our companions." Gilead explained with awareness of their changing surroundings along with the echoes of a recitation, "The demon must have trapped us within a connected maze of illusions fueled by our remorse for our past deeds and sins."

"How do we get out?"

"By reconnecting with the others, I suppose."

"Not a big fan, but why not..." The chanting now grew loud enough for the two wardens to recognize who was speaking, "Do we have to-"

"All of us must reconnect in order to escape." Gilead said to Gimli as they approached a praying Leliana who was kneeling in meditation before an old Chantry mother, "Be wary lest we are caught again."

"I say shoot the old woman now-"

"This is Leliana's illusion, only her will can leave the demon exposed."

"Then let's just-"

"We're not leaving her."

"Blessed art thou who exists in the sight of the maker." Leliana chanted as if desperate, "Blessed art thou who seeks his forgiveness."

"This really isn't the time for prayer." Gimli muttered as Gilead suspiciously eyed the Revered Mother that seemed focused on Leliana, "How do we snap her out of it?"

"I think I know how..." Gilead guessed as he rolled the dice, "The Chant is a lie."

"Blessed-" Distracted from her prayers, Leliana stood up to face the snickering wardens, "Who are you?"

"You do not remember us Leliana?"

"Silence elf!" The Reverend Mother commanded and motioned for Leliana to return to her prayers, "Do not disturb this girl's meditation."

"Revered Mother, I do not know this person."

"She doesn't know us?" Gimli asked in confusion and then turned to leave, "Oh well! The demons ate her brain-"

"That woman is a demon." Gilead corrected while grabbing Gimli's dread to turn him back around, "We must slay it if we are to rescue Leliana."

"What? You want to kill her?"

"Yes." Gilead replied to Leliana as the laysister stared daggers into his eyes, "Are you angry?"

"I won't let you hurt her."

"It's two on one, I don't think the odds are in your favor."

"We'll see-" Suddenly Leliana's determination wavered and she turned back to the Reverend Mother as if pleading for guidance, "I don't want to kill them. I do not wish to return to who I was...I am not that woman anymore."

"What woman?"

"Do not vex her!" The Reverend Mother shouted, rebuking the two wardens and gently soothing Leliana's face, "She needs quiet and solitude to calm her mind and heal her heart."

"None of this is real Leliana," Gimli blunted to the confused Laysister, "Just retrace your steps and you'll realize that this is all a big dream."

"This isn't real? What do you mean?" Leliana asked as she looked from the dwarf to the elf, "Do I know you?"

"Do you not remember anything?"

"There is something familiar...almost trusting about you." Leliana looked into Gilead's face while the elf rolled his eyes at how close the girl's face was to his, "I do know you...I just do know from where..."

"Do you know me?"

"Who are you?" Leliana asked Gimli who shrugged and started to load his crossbow, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting to leave, I want to get back to the real world." Gimli muttered while winking at Gilead, "If you wanna sit on your knees and run away from reality...that's your problem lady."

"I will complete my vows-"

"And constrain yourself to the corrupt Chantry?"

"Begone! Do not disrupt Leliana from her dedication to the Maker!"

"I believe you are already doing that." Gilead replied to the fuming Chantry Mother, "Leliana, is this truly what you believe best to serve your Maker?"

"I...I must make amends for my sins."

"By continually praying for redemption rather than earning it?" Gilead inquired, "Didn't you say that the Maker assigned you to help us? To help us stop the Blight."

"I..."

"Made it up?"

"No!" Leliana shouted, "It was all true...I just-"

"You're awfully quick to turn your back on a divine decree." Gimli noted to Leliana's increasing anxiety, "I think she's faking."

"Or delusional..." Gilead figured while looking to the Chantry sister, "Or perhaps the demon is disrupting her ability to think properly."

"Demon?"

"You are in the Fade Leliana...none of this is real." Gimli took his time loading his bolts as Gilead continued to guide Leliana to realization, "We are."

"How do I know that?"

"Do not listen to the blasphemer." The Reverend Mother warned a heavily confused Leliana, "This your home, your refuge in an uncertain and cruel world. Do you truly wish to leave the comfort of this place behind? Stay and know peace."

"You will have to trust us." Gilead told Leliana, "Or trust your Maker. Trust not in the peace of the Chanters, but in him."

"I...I carry the Chantry's peace in my heart..."

"Do not allow these lowborn devils to cloud your judgement child-" The Reverend Mother's head was suddenly impaled by a bolt that Gimli had fired.

"Right in the kisser!" Gimli cheered as the Reverend Mother fell upon her back. Gilead and Leliana stared upon the dwarf who was enjoying the whole scene, "What? The Woman's dead so Lel knows it's not real! Right?"

"You killed her-" Leliana began to object until the woman stood back up, clearly ignoring the bolt that was rammed through her forehead, "Maker..."

"You...you dare..." The Chantry sister's body decayed, allowing the true form of the humanoid bull demon beneath to reveal itself, "Now you shall feel eternal remorse and despair...as I feast on your souls-"

"Pick your targets!" Gilead pulled Leliana away from the demon's reaching claws and slashed both knives through it's extended wrist. Gimli unleashed the full payload of his crossbow upon the demon's head and caused it to stagger backwards in frustrated agony. Gilead tossed Leliana his bow and charged for the downed demon. The Dalish Seeker swerved under the demon's swipe and dealt a pair of graceful slashes into it's arm as the demon stood upon it's webbed feet and sprouted another pair of arms that grabbed Gilead and began to strangle him. A well-placed shot to the neck from Leliana freed the elf and enabled him to stab both swords into the demon's chest.

"NOW!" He screamed as he pried out the demon's pulsing heart and watched bolt and arrow upon bolt and arrow cover the organ as the demon roared in pain with each shot to it's heart. Gilead jumped back as one last arrow impacted through the center of the heart and caused it to fall in half. The demon meanwhile stepped backwards, limply clutching at it's hollow chest until it fell upon it's knees just as Gimli shot it in it's face.

"One more for road." Gimli shot another bolt right next to where he had shot the demon and watched the demon crumbled into crimson dust before their eyes, "I think he's dead."

"I wonder when he died...his heart falling in half or having the bolts fried through his head as he died?"

"Double tapping is a good habit, trust me..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**You know for a Sloth Demon it tried very hard to keep you from escaping the Fade. You'd think that as a sloth demon, it would've been too lazy to bother fighting you or to put in that needlessly complicated puzzle realm to make you lose your mind. Talk about false advertisement, shouldn't their inherent laziness make a sloth demon the least threat-worthy of the demonic pantheon?**

**I'd honestly be more scared of a Wrath Demon, sure they're weak and somewhat easy to take out if you have water or ice nearby. But they're driven by rage which means that they're more determined to hurt you. A sloth demon? They'd be more likely to take a nap than to actually fight you.**

**I tried to get this out before Halloween was over, but that wasn't likely to happen. So Happy (Late) Halloween anyway!**

**For the record, yes I plan on doing a DAII tie-in at some point in the future. But I don't want to start until I'm completely certain as to how this story will end so that they don't conflict. Will it be out before Inquisition is released? Honestly, I doubt it. And don't even ask about an Inquisition tie-in...that's fairly far into the future.**

**PS: I've already called for Elven and Qunari Inquisitors for Inquisition.**


	25. Circle Tower: Burn the Dream

****First Floor****

"How much longer until the others are done?"

"We've only been waiting for a few hours and considering that there aren't more demons, abominations or blood mages pouring down from the upper levels to take their pickings of our undefended position, I'd guess that we won't have to wait for much longer." Shatele told Lealion, both women utterly bored from waiting amongst the mage survivors. The hounds were keeping themselves occupied by fighting over every little object that they found from bones to small clothes, "Brother and the other wardens will have the tower cleared and then we can continue our journey."

"How many more people do we have to recruit?"

"The Dalish Elves...The Dwarves of Orzammar...Arl Eamon...Soldier's Peak-"

"We'll have to do this shit four more times?"

"We don't have to, but then our options would not be favorable." Shatele explained to the mage, "If Ferelden is overran by the Blight and not stopped, then we'll all be killed with women like you and me being traded around to be raped and defiled in horrific ways from dusk till dawn. Perhaps we would be raped to death's door just to be nursed back to health. But if we are killed, the darkspawn may not care and proceed to rape our corpses until the flesh rots from our bones."

"That rose my mood." Surana sarcastically replied, "What about the best outcome?"

"Orlais will stop the Blight and reoccupy Ferelden under the official reasoning of "reconstruction". As Cailan is dead with no heirs and King Maric had no other legitimate children, no one would be able to unite Ferelden and oppose Orlesian rule."

"Legitimate children?"

"King Maric was popular with women, perhaps he had a natural child and nobody knows about him."

"How would you know that it's a he?"

"I don't." Shatele quickly replied and brought out the sword that she had found on the demon whose ashes were being rolled on by Huan, "_You are the mirror. Reflect._ What does that mean?"

"Mirrors reflect people's images back to them right? Maybe the sword's meant to show it's victims their faces when they die?" Lealion offered with a shrug, "I have no idea, weapons aren't exactly my specialty."

"Maybe Wynne would know?"

"Or Mairon."

"No...he...scares Alistair...and he scares me."

"Why?"

"I get a bad feeling that everywhere he goes, he always finds a way to make a bad situation worst..."

* * *

><p><strong>The Black City<strong>

He was being toyed with.

Mairon had put up a strong fight against the black-horned scaled wolf that reformed from his counter assault. But the heavily wounded mage knew that this wolf's true form could have killed Mairon from the start. It was strange to be in the prey, Mairon was often used to being the predator that this sensation of fear inside of his heart was actually fascinating to him.

Not enough to ignore his mortal peril, but fascinating nonetheless.

**"Still alive?"**

"I've lost a lot of blood...but that's nothing new."

**"Interesting..."** A black chain flew out from the entity's palm and impaled itself into Mairon's chest, **"GET OVER HERE!"** The chain pulled Mairon across the hall where the lone occupant of the Black City gripped the mage's neck with his clawed hand and Mairon grabbed the man's face with his mangled hand.

"POINT BLANK BITCH!" Mairon fired a Mana bolt from his hand that encompassed the entity's head. But any hope that Mairon had was crushed when the entity's mouth had widened to devour the blast and bite off Mairon's hand. To the mage's surprise, he was more curious than fearful of his amputation, "Oh...that's how it feels?"

**"I bit off your hand and that's all you have to say?"**

"Pain's more of an inconvenience to me...guess I'm just used to it or something...plus I know a mage that can help me grow my hand back...plus we're in the Fade."

**"So what happens in the Fade isn't real?"**

"I'm not going to go that far."

**"I'm done toying with you...I think I'll let you live..."**

"You're rewarding me for being utterly raped for the past fifteen minutes?"

**"No...for being my toy..."** The Entity answered the unrelieved Mairon, **"Now what I did to the magisters...that was rape..."**

"Symbolically or literally?"

**"Why not both?"**

"They did intrude into your house."

**"But I gave them what they wanted."** The entity raised his free hand as it began to form into a gaseous fume that flowed into Mairon's open wounds, **"The magisters wished for power and to be feared above gods by man...so I gave them the taint and the world suffers it now. The Archdragons sought to enter my city and take my power...so their pawns were given a touch of power they were never meant to have...and the Archdragons were betrayed and turned into the demons that the world suffers now...that you suffer now."**

"I'm surprised that I haven't seen a dragon around here-"

**"I think I can manage...and give you want you've wanted since you were a child."**

"You're going to give me a pony?"

**"Oh yes...I'll give you the best damned pony that anyone would ever want..."** The Entity laughed his booming laugh as Mairon felt his blood boil from the thick blackness that was merged with his being, **"And the world will suffer you...Arthunus...the mage who struck the Black City."**

"Does that make me a black mage?"

**"As a matter of fact...yes it does..."**

* * *

><p><strong>Templar Quarters<strong>

Mairon awoke coughing blood and with his mouth on something that tasted fairly nice.

His eyes stirred and his mind returned to it's place, now realizing that his head was one one of Morrigan's uncovered breasts. Breasts that were covered with his blood as was the rest of her body due to the heavy bleeding that he had done while asleep.

And even now that he was awake.

"That was fun...but with all of this blood loss...I'm surprised that I'm not dead..." Mairon managed as he staggered to his feet and looked to see that the rest of the group was still sound asleep and likely trapped in the Fade. The Sloth Demon was standing in place, clearly strained by whatever efforts that he had to take to keep the other wardens in the Fade. Mairon raised his hand and charged mana to it as he pondered destroying the demon right then and there.

Then decided against it.

"They'll be alright." Mairon waved his hand and walked over to an apparently dead mage that Mairon recognized as Niall, "Guess the demon was feeding off of him...well he is funny." Mairon found Lily's body under Revan and took several poultrices off of her. He then went to Niall and poured the contents of the poultrices down the mage's throat through he was careful not to choke the mage.

"You're on your own from here." Mairon said to the now breathing, but still unconscious mage. Amell figured that his fellow wardens would probably be able to wake up on their own, if not then that was their problem. In the meantime, he'd scout ahead and pick off any stragglers on this level.

That way Durin would never be able to catch up to him.

"Now to be a gentleman." Mairon refastened the witch's robe to restore her modesty and evaporated his own spilled blood so that it flowed back into his body. Mairon was further surprised to find that his stab wound from Tabris' missed attack was no longer bleeding though he could still feel something inside of it.

Mairon guessed it would be his black mark now.

"Least I know that I really did the impossible...too bad now will believe me when I tell them what I did in the Fade!" Mairon laughed to himself and then cringed upon remembering the sun-patterned eyes within he who sat upon the Black Throne, "Nice to be reminded of my mortality once in a while...speaking of which...just how many people are left to kill?"

"I'm pretty sure that I've accounted for every templar and mage that isn't dead or was killed by us..." Mairon thought to himself as he entered the next room and casually stepped on the fragile skull of a recently charred corpse, "The only ones that would still be alive are likely in the Harrowing Chamber...That's what...fourteen mages unaccounted for and one templar-" Mairon was interrupted from his thoughts as he opened the door and felt a great surge of heat burn upon his features. He erected a barrier over the door way just before he started rolling on the ground to put out the fire on his skin.

"I'M ON FIRE!" Mairon cried out in pain and excitement before the flames burnt out and Mairon stood to look upon a creature of myth that stared him down through the barrier, "A dragon?"

The fully mature Drake growled at Mairon, behind it a litter of dragonlings all roared at the mage as if to emulate their older brother

"Now how did you get here?" Mairon pondered, "Gregoir was really slacking if someone could sneak dragon eggs into the Tower." He could probably wait until the others awoke or just kill the dragons itself, but Mairon decided to consider a long term strategy, "Can't we negotiate?"

As if understanding Mairon's words, the Drake snapped it's jaws in Mairon's direction.

"I mean you do want to escape this tower, no?" Mairon inquired while the drake growled, "And fighting me is the best way for you to die."

The Drake calmed itself, but still remained crouched to strike at a moment's notice.

"I also have some enemies ahead of me...demons with power..." Mairon offered, "And I can give you that power."

The Drake barred it's teeth again, indicating mistrust in the human.

"I hear you! Why should you trust a human?" Mairon confided as he focused and felt the same blackness that gave him fear in the Black City begin to appear upon his arms, "But do you know what this is?"

The Drake recoiled at first and then moved it's head forward and acidic saliva dripped from it's jaws.

"If you help me kill the demons...I can turn their power into yours..." The Drake appeared convinced, but it glanced back at it's uncertain siblings as if asking about them, "Sure...they can have some too."

* * *

><p><strong>Inner Sanctem of the Fade<strong>

"How did you even get here?"

"I fell..."

"You fell...from where?" Morrigan asked while she and Oghren stood upon what was supposed to be the final stepping stone out of this realm, "Nevermind...I could have worst company."

"Indeed you could." Suddenly, the Dwarven noble appeared upon the fragmented island accompanied by a Circle Mage who looked like he had just been awoken from a hangover, "About time that we found our way here."

"Found your way here?"

"It's complicated from the way Durin described it..." The mage commented as mana freely danced on his open hands, "But this place is the source of a mage's power. Why shouldn't I be able to just make a door and go wherever I wanted?"

"The problem was that he choked when we ran into a golem."

"I was being healed...a potion was drained down my throat and revived me here..."

"Hey...eh...ain't this all a dream? And who are you nug-humper?"

"He is Niall, a mage of the Circle-"

"Good, but I don't care. Where are the others?"

"Create a doorway for them to come here."

"It's not that simple dwarf."

"The Circle Mage could do it, why not an experienced and uncaged witch?"

"I won't be pulled into a pointless argument with you."

"It is not an argument, it is a question."

"And you will pettle on with a long-winded deconstruction about how I am wrong rather than just saying I am wrong."

"Hey Niall...eh...so what's your story?"

"I tried to save the Circle, ran into the Sloth demon and fell asleep." Niall answered the Dwarf who was currently draining a bottle of rum, "Where did you get that?"

"Stole it out of my dream..." The dwarf laughed, "Since it's a dream...it ain't never gonna run out!"

"Can I have some-"

"Dream your own!"

"Play nice Oghren." Gimli said as he, Gilead and Leliana appeared upon the landmass with a bottle of ale in each hand, "There's enough for everyone!"

"How did the non-mage acquire drink? Have you found the secret of the magic-knights?"

"Brosca took it from his dream." Leliana explained while holding up a glass of wine, "It is a good vintage."

"What does a Chantry Sister know about vintage?"

"I was not always one, sir seeker."

"Now once the magic knights and qunari find us then we can leave this place." Durin commented and remembered what had brought them there in the first place, "After we track down the Sloth demon that brought us here and kill him."

"Why can't we just leave by ourselves?"

"As a demon brought us into this realm, it is likely that we must either persuade that demon to return us to the material world or we must slay the demon."

_"Why do you not slumber?"_

"As you surfacers say, speak of the devil and it'll appear," Gimli said as the harbinger of their current predicament appeared before it's captives, "Hey there! Want a drink?"

_ "Do not enjoy the rest that I have provided for you?"_

"Tempt your fate and you will regret it." Morrigan warned the demon, whose flesh now appeared to be more festered and twisted, "No...I did not enjoy my sleep else I would not have left it."

"And your illusions are terrible."

"Where's the rum?"

_"Go back to sleep and there will be more rum,"_ The Sloth Demon said to the pondering Oghren, _"You have traveled a long ways...you should sleep."_

"Enough! I don't believe that your power is real!" Durin declared to the demon, "Come friends! He cannot hurt us if we don't believe in him!"

"What."

"Physical laws simply cannot be ignored. Existence cannot stand without them." Durin explained to the blinking Gilead, "We are faced with a staggering contradiction concerning the nature of this place called the Fade. It's very structure and it's grounding is created by the imaginations of those who dream. Those with the power to channel the essence of this place can manipulate it to their will."

"I'm going to pretend that this is going somewhere."

"That's what we usually do," Gimli said to Niall, "Besides, he may be on to something."

"For instance, demon, how do you know about the realms from which each of us emerged? Or to be more specific, how did you know about my father or of my heritage? Grievous errors aside."

"I read into your mind and found what causes you pain. So I constructed a place where you would accept and rest-"

"At least I would have if I had accepted the illusion that you had created. Which I didn't." Durin stated to the demon, "Cohesive reality is consistent with universal laws. Where the laws do not operate, there is no reality. All of this is unreal. Take for instance those drinks? Where did you get them? How have they not depleted?"

"Because we don't want them to?"

"Precisely Brosca! Within this place, we define our own reality. Normally reality is judged by the response of our senses. Once we are convinced of the reality of a given situation, we abide by its rules." Durin explained, "Yet, we all broke free from our so-called places of rest and thereby rejected the reality of those places. In doing so, we also reject acknowledgement of any power that you may have over us. If we do not believe in you, then you cannot hurt us."

A surge of lightning sparked from the Abominations shoulders and threw Durin to the edge of the landmass.

"That was entertaining," Gimli said as he brought out Kalah with the rest of the party preparing to attack the demon, "So you can hurt us...but that doesn't mean we can't hurt you."

"Why struggle? Why persist?" The Abomination asked as it's mass grew to into a large muscular creature similar to an ogre, "I suppose that I shall have to make you rest-" The Demon was interrupted when a mana mark appeared on it's body.

"It took us long enough to find our way back." Wynne stated as Lily drew out her knives, "But I believe we can force our way out of this nightmare."

"Thanks for the warning Morrigan!"

"I was expected to give you one?" Morrigan inquired just as a burst of Righteous Fire fell upon the demon and exploded in a burst of energy that left a searing hole in it's chest, "He didn't get a warning, do you hear him complain?"

"I'm not." Gimli said as the demon fell upon it's face, "Enjoy the nap!"

"Did I do that?" The newly arrived Alistair asked in just as much surprise as the rest of the party, "Did I...did I...destroy an abomination with one strike? I did that?"

"He was hexed by-"

"Yes Alistair, you did." A strained Revan gave the ex-templar a strong pat on the back as the demon began to erode before them, "Well done! Now we can leave the Fade."

"Well done indeed." Durin stated as he rose to his feet as if he hadn't been struck by lightning, "And here I was waiting to employ my gambit-"

"Sounds great and all...but we're more worried about leaving this place..."

"I think I can help with that." Wynne stated as she walked over to the dias of the Fade and struck it with the pommel of her staff, "There may be a momentary discomfort..." The fog of the Fade rose up and around them as the companions all felt themselves gasp...

* * *

><p><strong>Templar Quarters<strong>

The Wardens and the company all heavily coughed as they awoke upon the Fourth Floor of the Circle Tower. Their bodies were strained as if someone had kicked them while they were asleep and even when the stood, balance was elusive.

"How long were we asleep?"

"The Fade makes everything longer...it's amazing that any of us are alive..." Niall muttered, taking out a runic book that caught Wynne's attention, "I suppose this will be more useful to you than to me..."

"Obviously, though your courage should be noted." Gilead complemented the mage as he reached for the book and Gimli snatched it out of the mage's hand, "Why do you want it? Can you even read?"

"Of course I can read. My old man drilled every useless language that he could into my brain." Gimli scoffed and opened the book, "Let's see...how to kill abominations...nothing...how about how to prevent mage possession-"

"Page 659."

"Here." Gimli tossed the book to Wynne, "I don't see our resident blood mage around here."

"Blood mage? Mairon has dabbled in blood magic?"

"Dabbled wouldn't be the correct word." Revan answered, remembering the blast that the man created back at Ostagar, "He also tends to collect blood from the fallen and clearly understands more about the art than he should."

"Then I will have no choice but to report him-"

"He is a Grey Warden now. As much I'd like to hand him over to the templars...the Chantry has no authority over the Wardens and that includes mages as wardens." Alistair stated to Wynne, "Officially though, each branch of the Grey Wardens is only allowed to have one mage recruited from a Circle, but it's been ignored in recent years leading up to the Blight and the Chantry rarely supervises anyway. Plus, it's not unheard of for Wardens to conscript apostates or runaway circle mages when necessary."

"Very well, then how he uses his magic is on your shoulders." Wynne told the wardens, whose reaction ranged from neutral to annoyed and even enraged confusion, "I merely speak the truth."

"Bullshit. What he does is on him." Lily countered, "I've never let myself take a hit for something that I didn't do and that's not about to start."

"As interesting as this conversation is, we have a tower to save." Revan reminded the companions and led them out of the festering hall following Wynne to where the stairs to Harrowing Chamber would lie, "It doesn't appear as though there are any more demons or abominations on this floor."

"Uldred and his fellows are in the Harrowing Chamber...they've likely captured Irving and other survivors to corrupt." Wynne stated fearful for her fellow Circle members, "Or perhaps Uldred was merciful and killed them."

"How is it mercy to kill them?"

"There are worst fates than death Durin."

"I do not deny this elf, it is simply puzzling that death in itself is considered mercy."

"Well if someone gave you a choice between being beheaded or castrated, wouldn't death by beheading be considered merciful compared to the other option?"

"Less painful and more honorable, but not merciful. True mercy would not involve death. Mercy is where one has power over another with all might and laws giving one the right to destroy the other. But instead, the one pardons the other and sends them on their way. That is mercy! Mercy is derived from power."

"Your musings are amusing if you placed them in a book, I am certain that many would read about your thoughts."

"Do you truly believe that Sten?"

"No."

"Hey guys! I found a new urinal!" Oghren declared while relieving himself through a large recently made hole in the Tevinter Architecture, "Wanna see me make an arch?"

"Try setting it on fire!"

"And burn my junk? I LIKE MY JUNK!"

"Then by all means, keep having fun with your junk!" Lily yelled to the laughter of some, "Men and their junk...they treat it like a toy."

"Euphemisms and habits of genitalia aside, does anyone hear that?" Morrigan inquired as the group heard the sound of familiar laughter mixed with a terrified scream, "I believe we now know the fate of our beloved Amell."

"Why doesn't the Maker answer any of my prayers?" Alistair whined as the group followed the laughter, passing over many mutilated, burnt and even chewed demonic and human corpses, "At least Mairon did us a favor."

"Not just him..." Revan noted the teeth marks on one body and a set of broken cages nearby, "He made some friends."

"Hope those friends are our friends..."

"Do you?"

"I don't know." Gilead said to Gimli as the group entered the stairway and found a large mound of templar corpses with a familiar figure using some of them as some kind of puppet show, "These don't count towards the game."

"Bout time you got here! I didn't do enough killing to raise my score much anyway." Mairon stated as he hopped down from the mound and dropped his makeshift puppets, "I was just catching up with Cullen."

"Maker protect me!" The mage kneeling within a squared forcefield cried, "Maker help me! Maker save me!"

"What did you do him?"

"Is everything my fault Tabris? He was like that when I found him!" Mairon lightly pleaded with the unconvinced elf, "I was just trying to pick up his spirits."

"By dangling his fallen comrades in front of him?"

"I really don't know who I pieced together...the demons evidently ripped them apart so badly that they weren't recognizable-"

"Can you explain the hole in the wall?"

"A dragon did it."

"What dragon?"

"The one that I fed with the corpses of it's victims...I guess Drakes can grow wings."

"You released a dragon...into Thedas?"

"There's about half a dozen of them..."

"Why?"

"Six dragons...one for each of the Grey Wardens." Mairon pointed as Alistair was about to ask something, "I discounted myself...I don't want a dragon."

"Why not?"

"I want a pony!"

"Either Mairon's the single-greatest defense for Templar validity or he's crazier than a coconut..."

"How would you know what a coconut looks like?" Durin asked just as Cullen stood up and screamed, "The magic knight awakens!"

"Magic? Magic is evil...magic is...hell..." Cullen stated as if out of a waking nightmare, "You know nothing of what they are capable of dwarf-"

"Manipulate the elements, manipulate blood, summon demons, create projectiles of mana, alter the Fade to their will-"

"IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE!" Cullen cried out, "I watched as those mages murdered my comrades...ripped out their spines...took out their eyes, ground them into...juice and forced them to drink it...the demons...defiled them...to death and then raised them back just to defile them to death again...tearing bloody orifices in their skulls...their prostates...their legs...their stomachs...they pulled out tongues and tied them together into rope with which to lynch their victims...the demons set my friends on fire and urinated on them with acid as they suffered their wounds..."

"This is giving me so many ideas..." Mairon was recording every word that Cullen spoke in spite of Wynne's heavy disapproval, "Keep going Cullen! Expel those emotional demons!"

"No! I'm not possessed! I'M NOT!"

"Calm yourself Cullen, all will be well soon." Wynne assured the young templar, "Where are Uldred and Irving?"

"Upstairs...Uldred and his fiends are...transforming mages into monsters like them..." Cullen reported, "You must destroy them all-"

"No, that won't happen."

"Why?" Sten asked Cousland, "You have seen firsthand what these monsters are capable of and yet you still wish to save the Saarabas tower?"

"We can't just kill them all." Revan countered, "What do you propose we do?"

"Kill everyone in that room and imprison the rest."

"Because imprisoning mages worked so well the first time!" Mairon laughed, "Besides, why should any of us fear maleficarum? **They should fear me**."

"Did your voice just change?"

"**No**," Mairon punched his throat and coughed before correcting himself to Alistair, "No! Why would my voice change?"

"Speaking of change...did you really attack the Black City?" Morrigan asked to the shock and fear of the party, "Tis curious."

"It was the dwarf's idea." Mairon stated, pointing to Durin who made no attempt to deny his involvement, "But it worked right? You guys got out."

"In fact, why didn't you kill the demon when you got out?" Gilead inquired, "Hell! How did you get out?"

"Would you believe me if I told you dalish?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because my answer would disprove everything that you've been taught to accept and have faith in."

"Try me."

"Let's save that for later friends, I'd rather have everyone able to fight in the chamber right above us." Gimli said as he came in between the dalish and the mage, "And Cullen? That's your name? Stay safe. It will be over soon."

"Maker turn his gaze on you, wardens..." The templar muttered as he sat back into his prayer, "I hope your compassion hasn't doomed us all."

"Either way you're fucked, so make peace with the Maker while you can." Mairon advised the now shaking templar, "And by the way, **Andraste was a mage**."

"What?"

"Oh nothing! Just keep praying to your Maker." Mairon told the templar, "**And he'll be happy to ignore you**."

* * *

><p><strong>Harrowing Chamber<strong>

"I will never submit!"

"Your resistance only fuels our power!" Uldred taunted as he and two other mages manipulated the energies of the fade into a vortex. At the center of this vortex of misery and pain was a single young enchanter was held in suspended animation while forks of magic whipped into his very skin and flesh, "Yield!"

"Maker be with me!"

"The Maker is a lie!"

"Like how your mother was a whore-"

"MY MOTHER IS A SAINT!" Uldred created a magical claw that raked the enchanter across his chest and bitch slapped him, "Yield you elven-born freak!"

"No!"

"Guess this one won't come quietly-" One of Uldred's conspirators was silenced when an arrow and a bolt sank into the back of his head and caused the vortex to dissipate.

"Sorry...I thought we were expected." Gimli apologized while the other wardens entered the chamber and the dwarf's victim planted his face into the ground, "Was that my kill..."

"I believe it was mine." Gilead stated as Uldred's confusion became heavily apparent, "No matter, we seem to have disturbed a magical ritual of his."

"That was rude of you." Uldred mused while he calmed himself, "But no lasting harm was committed-"

"On the contrary, one of your conspirators is dead." Durin pointed out, "With the amounts of your demons and fellow mages that we slew to come to this point...your forces have been decimated beyond repair. And now, you are facing a heavy numerical disadvantage."

"Numbers do not win a battle little dwarf."

"They always help..." Alistair commented, "Where is the First Enchanter-"

"He's over there stupid boy." Morrigan answered, pointing to where an old man with a long beard was tied up in the corner of the room with a few other mages, apprentices and enchanters, "Look before you speak."

"Uldred...your scheme ends now." Wynne stated, pointing the end of her staff at the rebellious Senior Enchanter, "Surrender now and your life will be spared. There is no need for any further bloodshed."

"Why not?"

"He does have a point...why end the bloodshed?" Mairon inquired and shrugged his shoulders, "Then again, this is the last pocket of meatbags. All good things must come to an end...though I'd really prefer if they didn't..."

"Can I go back to my corner?" The traumatized enchanter asked Uldred who waved his hand in reply, "With gusto!"

"Why are you letting him go?" Durin inquired, "In fact, what were you doing to him?"

"Unlocked his gift and making him like us."

"He and his fellows are abominations." Wynne warned the group, "They may wear the faces of men, but they are monsters now in spirit and in form."

"Monsters? We have merely transcended the narrow-minded, oppressive, dogmatic restrictions of the Chantry." One of Uldred's companions spoke, "Now we may do as we please-"

"You've only made yourselves doubly vulnerable to the magic knights that the Chantry controls through addictive substances." Durin countered, "Now when our resident magic knight uses his abilities, you will fall twice as quickly."

"Durin...shut up..."

"I am merely explaining how you have a strong advantage against these demon-possessed mages. After all, your abilities work against mages and creatures of the fade, no?"

"They do-"

"Which means that they would in essence, stack against abominations?"

"That's not how it-"

"So in their present state, you are their single greatest danger." Durin concluded as Alistair cried on the inside and Mairon broke down laughing, "What is funny Amell?"

"I'm not sure which is funnier...the idea of Alistair being a threat or the idea that a templar can hurt an abomination!"

"This doesn't have to end in violence." Revan attempted to reason with the unfettered mages, "Release your captives and turn yourselves in and we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

"And what if I don't believe that bloodshed is unnecessary?"

"Then we'll have to destroy you." Revan replied, activating his Spirit Aura to the surprise of two of Uldred's companions, "Make your choice."

"So we are not the only ones who have unleashed our potential...perhaps we can come to an arrangement Grey Warden," An unaffected Uldred offered, "A mage is but a larval form of something even greater! Your Chantry vilifies us, calls us abominations when we have truly reached our full potential! With said potential, we would be invaluable to you against the Blight."

"You offer to join us?"

"Of course! If the darkspawn overrun all of Thedas then what point will there be for power and freedom?" Uldred answered Gilead, "Though we despise the Chantry, we are aware of the Grey Warden treaties that compel the Circle of Magi to aid against the Blight. We would be perfectly willing to do so."

"If?" Lily added, "Come on, this sounds way too good to be true."

"You're actually considering this?"

"I hate blood magic, but you've seen what Mairon can do! Imagine if we had 50 mages that were as strong as him?" Tabris rolled her eyes when Mairon started laughing again, "It would be better overall if we used these abominations against the Blight rather then fighting them!"

"And what about after the blight is over?" Revan countered, "These mages just slaughtered their own people in cold blood or worst. Summoning demons, mindlessly tearing holes in the veil, defiling the dead, mind-rapping templars-"

"Aren't they already mind-raped?" Mairon reminded the party, "Honestly, seeing Cullen's little pity party made my day-"

"The point is that these mages have given us no reason to trust them-"

"And they wouldn't be able to escape anyway as I destroyed the boats." The entire party gasped and stared at Durin who merely brushed his beard in apathy, "As a failsafe in the event that we failed to contain the mages, so that they cannot escape."

"We were never going to use the boats-"

"You were going to fly on the back of the dragons once you fed them enough demons and mana to enhance their growth?"

"Well...yes-"

"They're already gone." Mairon said as a very emotive crack appeared in Uldred's calm exterior, "Even the drakes grew wings...guess those vestibles are more than useless limbs-"

"Resistance! Everywhere I go, resistance!" Uldred shouted in a voice that half his own and half the demon's that indwelt him, "You are a thorn in my side, and I must remove you before you fester!"

"Did you have to use such a disgusting analogy?"

"No! But it served to bring the point across-"

"It was effective and to the point, but it could have been better worded." Durin stated, "It makes you appear weak for being vulnerable to a little thorn."

"That settles it. You die first." Uldred happily laughed before addressing the other wardens, "Will anyone object?"

"No."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Ignore the Chantry Sister and kill the dwarf."

"The one with gold beard, remember that."

"No."

"No."

"Eh..."

"You can try."

"Go ahead, I'm bored with him."

"Light em up."

"You were going to strike me anyway so why-" Durin was interrupted when violent spikes and tendrils of electricity surged from Profion's hands and covered over the dwarf's armor. When the mage was finished, a smoking Durin remained upon his feet, "You failed."

"Give it time." Uldred was interrupted by a red flask that was thrown at his feet. Just as he and his compatriots noted the object, a bolt from Kalah broke open the flask and splashed warm red liquid over the mages as Lily threw a Fire Bomb into their vicinity.

"That was your only free shot, friend." Gimli stated as the screaming mages were set on fire.

"Why was I not informed of this free shot?"

"You would have told him." Alistair answered as the mages stopped screaming and in place of fire, mana burned off of their bodies as they assumed the true form of their abominable states, "Oh yeah...mages can heal themselves."

"Only if you leave us alive." Uldred stated still in human form and unharmed, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Sorry that the Sloth Demon battle was kind of anti-climatic, but I felt like it would be redundant to have a long epic battle there.**

**The whole point of the Fade was for the characters to overcome it's illusions and there was the true battle. Beating the Sloth Demon is repetitive because the characters have already beaten him in a sense. Plus, the guy shape-shifts into various forms during the battle and they all bring into question exactly what kind of demon he truly is.**

**He has an Arcane Horror form which technically could only happen if he was a mage corpse possessed by a Pride Demon and he also has a Wrath Demon form even though he's a sloth demon...it's all so confusing and I just wasn't in the mood.**

**I swear to make up for it with the Uldred fight.**

**As for what happened to Mairon/Arthunas...it's not going to drastically change the story line, but let's just say that eventually it will lead the overall picture in Thedas to get...worse...way worse...**


	26. Circle Tower: Black Annulment

**Kinloch Hold**

_"Simple killing is a warrior's job. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions... careless trust... pride. Keep your wits about you, mage. True tests... never end."_

Arthunus "Mairon" Amell remembered those words well.

After all, what good was having power when you nothing to test it on?

"Your barrier has improved!" Uldred shouted as another lash of his mana whip was reflected off of Mairon's barrier and retracted back into the crusted forearm of Uldred's monstrous exoskeleton, "For a mortal!"

"And your whip stings as much as a pencil." Actually, Mairon figured that a pencil would break through flesh and blood if the impact speed was high enough. But knowing Uldred, he wouldn't think of something like that, "Is that all you've got?"

"I'm just getting warmed up." Uldred answered, charging what Mairon recognized as a fireball in his left hand, "Allow me to liven up the-"

"No need," Mairon quickly created a link between his mana and Uldred's, allowing to siphon the Enchanter's fireball from his hands and divide it into both of Mairon's, "Let me warm you up." Mairon combined the fire mana with electricity that danced upon his fingertips and unleashed a fiery burst of lightning that caught upon Uldred's exoskeleton and caused it to melt at the shoulder and upper chest.

"Amusing." Uldred muttered when a bolt of lightning flared out of his damaged exoskeleton and caught upon Mairon's skull, stunning the mage while Uldred charged forward and slashed his opponent across the torso. Mairon flew backwards across the 4th floor and through a wall before landing on his feet, "But I am quite done with playing with children...with mortals."

"What's wrong with children? They're fun and impressionable-"

"But they make terrible targets." Uldred replied, pealing away his exoskeleton to reveal that he wore an armored tightsuit underneath, "Even more so now that I have become one with a demon of the Fade."

"A Pride Demon?"

"Of course it was a pride demon."

"Interesting, I killed a pride demon once."

"The mouse?"

"It was a pride demon."

"Right...and why should I believe you?"

"Who beat the Harrowing in under ten minutes again?"

"How is this meant to impress me?"

"It's not." Mairon admitted, his mana healing him while he pieced together his plan of counter-attack, "But if I'm not dead within ten minutes, then I can oblige you."

"Profion's Spirit Reduction Blast?"

"I'd miss. Very destructive, but you'll hit everything except for your intended targets." As soon as this broken circle business was dealt with, Mairon would really need to fix that.

* * *

><p>"Why did we split up again?" Lily inquired after she decapitated a summoned sloth and rolled over to cover Morrigan from the sneak attack of a reanimated corpse.<p>

"Because Cousland didn't want to have any innocent bystanders caught in the middle of our battle!"

"That sentiment of his will get him killed. In fact, I believe that was how his father died." Durin commented as he failed penetrate the Abomination's screen of black magic while the bearded grosteque creature with the underbody of a slug and what appeared to be a large mouth that extended from his chest to his stomach fired another spit of acid at the dwarf that caught on his gauntlet. As the dwarf pulled off the gauntlet, the mage loudly screeched loud enough to stun it's opponents.

"Where is your Maker now, wardens?" The Abomination inquired, "Do you see now how he has abandoned you? Abandoned you in fear of AURUMAN OF MANY COLORS!"

"My eyes!" Morrigan covered her eyes to prevent from seeing the old man's fairly deformed and best least described manparts with Lily looking at the reflection of her eyes within her own blade, "It's worst than walking in on my mother with a bear..."

"Don't tell me..."

"It's worst than you think." Morrigan focused and transformed into a spider as she leapt towards Auruman. The mage extended it's neck and crawled forward with surprising speed to avoid the tackle. The heavily armored Durin was left unable to ward off the swift strikes of it's point-blank mana bolts and soon found himself frozen by a cone of frost. Lily leapt upon it's back and stabbed into the creature, but was electrocuted by an aura of a electric energy before she felt herself being sucked into the creature's flesh. Fortunately, Morrigan's silk latched onto the elf and pulled her off of the abomination just as Auruman turned around to bite her with his second mouth.

"Ah ha!" Durin declared when he broke from his ice prison and slammed his axe through the creature's body to cut it in half. The lower half whittled away and died, but the upper half regenerated itself as Auruman triumphantly laughed, "Impressive. Though I do have a question for you."

"I believe that I can oblige."

"Are you happy?"

"Of course I am happy! I am the most powerful being in all of Ferelden and soon I will be free from this place-"

"An accomplishment does not guarantee happiness." Durin pointed out, "Are you happy?"

"Why would you ask that of me? THE GREAT ARUMAN OF MANY COLORS!"

"Please! No more flashing! Answer the damned question!"

"I have power! What more do I need?"

"But are you happy?" Durin persisted, "Does this power make you content in your self-identity?"

"I am the most powerful being in-"

"And yet you cannot answer if you are happy."

"I will not listen to the whims of mortals-"

"Then merely state that you are happy-"

"I CAN'T! I'M NOT!" Aruman weepingly confessed, "I am not happy! I hate being a mage! My magic makes me unhappy and I increase my magic because I am unhappy. It is a vicious cycle."

"Give yourself the Tranquil Mark and do away with your magic."

"And become a monotone zombie? What do you take me for witch? I am unhappy! Not stupid!"

"Then perhaps you should embrace what you are whether than sit in a pool of self-pity."

"Morrigan...why are you giving the abomination a pep talk?"

"Tis cause it's pathetic." Morrigan answered Lily, "You hate yourself and so you keep doing the thing that you hate yourself for? You are the walking definition of stupid."

"Morrigan-"

"I agree. The route to happiness for you is to embrace your gift," Durin stated to the listening Auruman, "Do not feel shame for having the power to control elements, demons and even the minds of others. Feel pride in your abilities and therein lies your path to happiness."

"Really?"

"Is that really why you let a demon possess you?" An annoyed Lily asked the abomination, "Because you were unhappy?"

"Oh no. I'm quite content with what I am, I just wanted to distract you." Auruman said with a gleeful smirk when black tentacles encoiled his foes though Durin was able to cut through his tentacle, "You did not seriously think that an old man like myself would loath himself for his might would you?"

"Tis seems to be the main theme here-" Morrigan was cut when the tentacle that trapped her tightened it's grip, "Interesting...are you-"

"I may be an abomination, but I have standards my dear. I happen to prefer men, thick men in fact." Auruman stated and turned to Durin who was standing perfectly in place, "With beards."

"You surface folk are strange creatures." Durin answered, "How did you get your beard to grow so long? It is a magnificent specimen."

"Is he really-"

"I want to see this blow up in his face." Lily laughed despite the pressure on her waist and chest, "This will never-"

"I have never shaved below the nose and beyond the cheek for fifty years."

"It is working."

"Do go on." The women watched as Auruman sat in front of Durin and the two began a conversation about beard trimming, fruits that enhance hair growth and other useless myths and truths about beards while Lily managed to grab a Freeze Flask and splash it on the coils strangling her as Morrigan transformed into a swarm of locusts.

"We only have one shot." Lily said as the black swarm crept upon the mage and then surrounded him. At first he didn't notice, but after seeing pieces of his hair fall from his chin and scalp, it was impossible not to notice. The mage tried to channel mana into his arms, but a knife in his spine seemed fairly effective at disrupting his nervous system.

"So my distraction worked." Durin noted with disinterest as he drew out his axe and chopped into the man's tenderized neck though he took care not to hit the beard, "Well done."

"Well done? We could've been strangled to death!"

"But you were not. The mage was so enthralled by his own self-accomplishment, that I was able to use his own ego against him to leave an opening."

"Do explain."

"My initial line of questioning was the first set of bait." Durin said as they moved themselves away from the slain abomination's corpse before it exploded, "I knew that the mage would attempt to lull us into a sense of false security by feigning pity and lack of self-confidence. Then confident in his victory, he was vulnerable to a suggestion that enhanced his ego, thus distracting his subconscious and surface attention long enough for the two of you to weaken him."

"When were you going to tell us your plan?"

"I wasn't." Durin replied, "Just like I wasn't going to tell you about the destruction of the boats."

"Tis no problem for me, I can fly."

"So can you turn into a giant eagle and fly us over the lake?"

"I could, but I won't."

* * *

><p>"Dance muggles! Dance!"<p>

"I feel like I'm being insulted somehow..." Gimli noted as he, Gilead and Sten scurried to avoid the quick moving forks of electric frost bolts that was shot towards them.

"I believe the term refers to non-magical individuals like ourselves." Gilead guessed and fired an arrow in the direction of the Abomination who froze the arrow with his spit a mere inch from his face, "Or that was what Mairon had said."

"So he is complementing us." Sten stated when his sword was struck with a bolt and the qunari released his grip to keep from being caught in the frost that entrapped the sword, "Expected."

"Divide his attention! Spread out!" The trio did just so, Gilead moved towards a pillar and fired several shots at the mage that harmlessly bounced off the armored turtle shell that the mage hid within. Gimli threw an unset grease container that loosed it's contents upon and around the abomination. The dwarf then took out a black lead bolt and fired it at the shell. The resultant impact, sparked the grease and set the abomination on fire.

"I'm on fire!" The mage cried as a limb emerged from his shell that was grabbed and hacked off by Sten, "No fair!"

"Come out!" Sten commanded as he grabbed the mage's other arm and pulled his opponent from the enflamed shell. The mage spat on Sten's chest and a surge of frost quickly spread out upon the qunari's body as the mage smirked and a demonic clawed arm grew out from his bloody stump.

"Sten!" Gilead cried out and fired at the mage's head. His arrow struck true and the mage flinched forward with the arrow impacted in his skull. But upon further inspection, the elf saw that his arrow caught upon a fine unseen ice shield. The mage swiped with his hand and sent a wave of frost in Gilead's direction that caught him at the waist down.

"I probably should kill you right now-" The mage was caught off guard by the bolt that slammed through the side of his chest and set itself aflame before the mage pulled out the arrow, "How dare strikes Tideon the tremendous?"

"Just a dwarf who doesn't play fair!" Gimli shouted and fired a bolt that created a shroud of smoke around Tideon. The mage coughed and immediately created a ring of spiked ice around himself as he looked around for his last remaining foe.

"Afraid of me dwarf? Come out and die like a man!"

"How can I do that if I'm not a man?" Gimli inquired from an unknown location in the hall, "You see the problem there?"

"You are afraid! That is fine...you should be afraid and your friends especially! The demons of the Fade are quite mad at all of you for what you did in there! They want to fuck you! Why not? I almost mistook the elf for a she anyway."

"I think he likes you Gil!"

"An elf, a dwarf and a qunari. Funny! They say that every warrior from your cultures are worth fifty humans." Tideon stated, "I think they're wrong."

"Whoever "they" are never considered bas-saarabas."

"You will die today my friends! With fire burning your bones! Lightning will dance upon your flesh until your eyes pop from their sockets! The ice will creep into your ass and turn your intestines into fragile crystal. The mana of my power will pierce your stomach and turn the acid within into a poisonous fume which shall rot your lungs!" Tideon wasn't close to done, "But know! Know that you fell to a mightier being than you. Know that you never had a chance against me! Know that I will sing of your deaths when I visit the Spoiled Princess and deflower it's hopeless maids upon it's burning walls before I kill them!"

"Maids? Did you see any maids?"

"I don't that I did-"

"And after I tear our your fucking tongue and use it as a glove when I shove my fist down your throat and out your ass, the bards will sing songs of how I pulled shit from your mouth, covered you in it and lit you afire!"

"You've put way too much thought into this."

"In that knowledge, despair!" Tideon gestured with his hands, causing the frost that encased his foes to creep further up their bodies, "AND DIE-" A dagger point punctured out of his chest and throat courtesy of the resident bard. The mage swerved around and unleashed a surge of lightning that forked upon his attacker just as the ice encasing the wardens began to break. Too late, the mage realized his error and felt three bolts bolt, two arrows and a greatsword pierce his back.

"Finally!" Gimli shouted as he reappeared from stealth, "I thought he'd never shut up!"

"What took you so long?"

"It was a good speech," Leliana replied as Gilead helped her to her feet, "I didn't wish to be rude."

"If he had been briefer, then he would still live." Sten commented as the stinger emerged from the corpse's robe skirt and wildly slashed outwards, "Dwarf."

"I have a name."

"How pleasant. Burn the witch."

"You had some creative ideas, but I'm in a bit of a hurry." Gimli decided as he doused the fallen mage with a flask of beer that he had "borrowed" from Oghren and loaded an explosive bolt into Kalah, "What's gonna happen when I shoot you with this?"

"Please don't shoot me-"

"Let's find out!" Gimli pointed his crossbow right up to the mage's temple and pulled the trigger...

* * *

><p>"Surely we can talk this out-"<p>

"That middle of the road bullshit won't save you templar!" Alistair's battered opponent cried out as he held Alistair in a crushing unseen grip and proceeded to smash the ex-templar against the spiked corpse of the Pride Demon that the mage had summoned, "All that will sate me is seeing you suffer as much pain as your kind of made me suffer!"

"What is so wrong with parlay?"

"Did you just speak with an Orlesian accent?

"Why the hell would I do that-"

"And those ears...they look a little elven to me..."

"Why does that matter right now?"

"Because I hate Orlesians, elves and templars...and you remind me of all three right now!"

"You see the irony of lashing out against religious oppression when you're propagating racial and cultural oppression-"

"KNEEL BEFORE COD!" It didn't work as well as Wynne had hoped, "KNEEL LOWER YOU TEMPLAR SCUM!"

"For the last time, I'm not a-" Alistair was cut off due to more force magic being applied to his very bones and forcing him onto his knees, "Help..."

"I would, but I am quite occupied with preventing my fellow mages from becoming abominations." Wynne politely replied as she continued to recite the Litany of Adralla to free an apprentice from the corrupting wards, "Two more to go...keep him busy for a little longer!"

"How much longer?"

"Would two minutes be too much dear?"

"Could you give me another Lifeward?"

"I don't have enough mana to do that and undo these corruption wards."

"I suppose I'll have to manage then-" Alistair wimpered when he felt another bone snap under Cod's force magic, "Whatever happened to all of that talk about honor and earning a fair victory?"

"Life...fair? But little templar...I am playing fair...as fair as you deserve." Cod stated, "I'm only using the talents that the Maker gave me to inflict as much pain and suffering upon you as possible! What's stopping you from nullifying my grip?"

"I can't really feel my arms right now-"

"And that's my problem why?"

"The Maker frowns on this kind of thing?"

"So he frowns on tormenting poor templars...but not on the rite of tranquility? Or when templars have their way with your fellow female mages under the threat of tranquility? Or when mages are forced to live under the sword of Damocles for their entire life?"

"Whose Damocles?"

"Read a book."

"Give me back control of my arms and I could-"

"IN HELL-" Cod was cut off by a rocky explosion that sent a dwarf flying into his chest and knocking him to the ground. As he felt the Force grip wear off, Alistair grabbed his shield and sword as he charged the dazed mage. Cod fired a burst of air that knocked Alistair off of his feet, but this time Alistair managed to throw his shield at the mage before he fell.

The Griffon Emblem slammed into Cod's face and easily stunned the mage long enough for Alistair to regain his balance. Just as Cod refocused himself, he felt a sword stab into his stomach and a white holy fire surge through his body effectively setting his own mana on fire as Alistair pulled out his sword.

"Hell doesn't sound like a nice place to go..." Alistair noted as Cod grabbed his wound and vainly attempted to channel magic into his arms, "I'd ask Wynne to heal you, but you may try to kill someone again...sorry, but you'll have to ahead of me. You can save a spot, but I doubt that I'll actually use it."

"The last one took longer than expected, but-" Wynne arrived at the scene to find Alistair barely standing on his feet and a certain dwarf groaning as he regained consciousness. Signing, the elder mage cast a spell which somewhat healed both of her companions, "Are you alright?"

"My bones aren't as broken as they were before...but...I'll have to warn Shatele not to give me a bear hug anytime soon..."

"Especially with her crazy brother..." Gimli muttered as he got to his feet, "What the hell happened?"

"You saved my life, if it weren't for you then I'd have been crushed into-" Alistair suddenly realized that Gimli wasn't completely aware of what he had just done, "You didn't plan that did you?"

"Plan what?"

"Hitting the mage to save my life?"

"All I remember was shooting a mage..." Gimli answered, "Last time that I ever do that."

* * *

><p>"These halls are far more spacious than one would think."<p>

"Spatial limitations are only a problem for magic-less muggles like yourself!" Revan heard his target taunt through the side halls between the Harrowing Chamber and the Templar Quarters, "Our only limitations are the imagination."

"Surely you could have found a solution to this madness."

"I only wish to die free beyond this hall. But no compromise could be found this...there can be no compromise between mages and templars."

"I do not condone your actions, but you have my sympathy-"

"Damn you and your sympathy shemlen!" The elven mage emerged from the shadows, her staff adorned with a recently scalped skull, "I need only your death, Revan Cousland."

"Have we met before?"

"Of course you would not remember me. I was just a little elf girl starving in Highever's slums while you rested your head on a feather pillow."

"A name would be appropriate."

"I am Watti from the Highever Alienage and a self-emancipated mage!" The woman declared while tendrils of fade energy erupted from her aura, "AND I DEMAND YOUR AUDIENCE!"

"You already have it." The elf girl's form shifted to that of a tall and slender beast with spiked tentacles emerging from the crust on it's monsterous head, "So beauty does hide a beast."

The Abomination unleashed a great barrage of fade bullets that flew in Revan's direction. Despite his Fade Cloak, Revan still opted to dodge or block the attacks. Cousland was knocked off of his feet when a tentacle of energy wrapped around his leg and threw him into the ceiling.

Recovering, Revan cut the tentacle and launched himself down towards the Abomination and slashed into the creature's skull before being thrown away by another blast of energy. Cousland could feel his Fade Cloak begin to weaken, as though the abomination were siphoning it from him. The mage's connection to the Fade was naturally stronger whereas Revan's was artificial, so it was no surprise.

He was still a scion of warriors.

He dispelled his aura, freeing a reserved wind of stamina to invigorate Revan's steps when he sidestepped a blade of hardened energy and struck at the Abomination's blind spot multiple times. With a heavy cleave, he felt his blade slice through the monster's arm and brought up his shorter blade to pierce the creature's chest.

The Abomination cried out with the voice of a woman and a beast as the tendrils on it's head snapped their jaws at Revan's face. Cousland grabbed the tendrils and pulled them from his foe's crown, but was left vulnerable when the beast widened it's bloodied jaws to reveal a fully charged orb of mana aiming straight at him.

The beam caught Revan and sent him tumbling back through the hall as the Abomination began to dissipate and reveal the battered, tired, wounded and yet estactic mage underneath who unleashed Fade Blast after Fade Blast.

"Whose being repressed now human?" Watti screamed amidst her assault, "I won't stop until every last inch of you is reduced to ash! The least you could do is stand up and die on your feet, you racist, masculine-empowered, oppressive, patriarchal, domineering misogynistic waste of flesh and blood!" Watti cried out when her white fire blast fired towards the Spirit Warrior. The girl's breath increased when the warden was engulfed in a magical explosion while she licked her lips,.

"Am I so weak to you now-"

"Funny thing about assumptions, I am thoroughly aware of the danger you pose." Revan replied, his damaged armor scorched as the energies of the spirit regathered on his body, "For anyone else, you may be right. As for me? My younger sister is heir to our house, my last lover was an elf, I'm a black man in a predominantly white society, I feared my mother, the idiocy of prejudice is beneath me, and despite my admitted perversions, I have and never will force it on anyone who does not share or comprehend my pent-up hunger."

"Was that supposed to assure me? You just admitted-"

"That I'm human and flawed? Surprised? My mother taught me a great deal about humility." Revan weaved his blades through another blast and charged at the mage. She tried to erect a shield, but Revan channeled his energy into his blades and cut through the woman's staff before she could finish and unleashed a blast of Fade energy that threw her across the hall, "You know what else she taught me?"

"FUCK YOUR MOTHER!"

"Nevermind." Revan made no reaction as he leapt through the woman's blast and felt his blades impale through the woman's ribcage on both sides. The force of his assault caused the wall behind the mage to crumble, already weakened by the ongoing battle around them. She gasped for air while Revan held her up with his bloodied swords and walked her towards the open wall of the Tower, "Actually...you desired to die beyond the walls of this tower no?"

Since blood was filling her lungs, the woman could only gargle and gasp in reply.

"I can do that for you." Revan said to his fallen foe and caught a hint of relief as the Cousland scion stared straight into the mage's eyes, "My parents taught me that victory without honor is a hollow one. You know what else?"

The mage's eyes told a thousand obscenities that she couldn't express with her mouth.

"Pride comes before the fall." Revan held the abomination out of the newly made hole and focused his strength to swipe his blades in and out of the woman's body. Severing it and causing the sliced corpse to fall towards Lake Calenhad...

"That was brutal." Lily commented when Revan relaxed and dispelled his energies, "Did she call you Orlesian?"

"I probably didn't have to cut her in half...Mairon's rubbing off on me too much..."

"Have you seen the other mages? He's a bad influence on all of us."

"Speaking of whom, where did he go?"

* * *

><p>"You fool! You are no match for my power!" Uldred declared as his massive Arcane Bolt engulfed Mairon's and impacted against the Warden Mage, "Pathetic pup! I have trained in the arts of magic since before you were ever born! My might! My knowledge! My wisdom! My control! All of these things and more dwarf your own, young apprentice!"<p>

"The air you breathe? I can use it as a dagger through your neck!" Uldred motioned with his hand, causing a bloody cut to appear on Mairon's neck, "The gravity upon which you stand? I will now make it your burden!" On que, Mairon's back buckled under the weight of Uldred's power.

"An abomination? I am more than that...I am a master of demons and men! A Lord of Magic whose power rivals...nay...dwarfs the magisters of old!" Several bolts of magic seared through Mairon's body as Uldred laughed in triumph, "You may be strong Mairon...but compared to me, you are but an ant facing the boot. Compared to me...you are a mere mortal standing in awe of a god!"

"A god?" Mairon asked while standing in a pool of his own blood, "Really?"

"Of course."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

**"REALLY?"**

"Really..." Uldred's smile vanished when Mairon began to laugh, "Do share the joke with me..."

"You're the joke...a god...you think because you're part demon that you're now a god?" Mairon's laugh only increased in volume while his body regenerated itself as a pitch black shroud emerged from the healing wounds, "You're no closer to godhood than an ant is to becoming a dwarven boot."

"And how would you know?"

**"Lifting Restraint of the Veil."** The shroud surrounded Mairon's body, concentrating over his shoulder where a dragon-like skull emerged from within it. The skull was soon followed by the upper half of quad-pedal body with claws upon it's front legs, **"Wanna know how I did it?"**

"You're using Death Syphon in combination with Spell Might and Blood Magic?"

**"Yes...only much more stable...And I prefer the term, Black Magic."** Mairon commented as the beast flew out towards Uldred while the mage cast a shield to protect himself. The demon ripped through the shield and fired a bolt of black magic at Uldred's leg. The impact shocked Uldred and this shock only grew to horror when the demon emerged from the black spot on his leg and ripped it from his hips, **"And it can feed on the living too...especially with a Mana Link."**

"WHAT...WHAT IS THIS THING?" Uldred demanded and fired a ray of lightning at the skeletal demon which redirected to Mairon's fingertips instead, "HOW?"

**"You're fighting me remember? Pony just wanted to say hi."**

"That's not a PONY!"

**"Take a good look at him. He has hooves...he's a smaller horse and he eats apples."** Mairon's observation was punctuated when Pony's jaws eyed Uldred's crouch, **"Or anything that looks round enough to count as an apple."**

"So you can summon demons now? SO CAN I!" Uldred shouted as he rolled to the side and tears in the air appeared. Out of the tears emerged two Rage Demons and a Lust Demon that all attacked Pony, "Let's see your pony stand up to these demons brought forth from the depths of the Fade-"

**"Hold that thought."** Mairon suggested and held out his arm while the shroud formed into his palm. An orb of black and red mana gathered there and flew into the side of the Lust Demon's head, knocking it off of it's shoulders and leaving a bloody stump. The demon then proceeded to cast a Cone of Frost on the two Rage Demons and allowed Pony to bite off their heads with enlarged jaws, **"Now what did you want to say again?"**

"Impossible..."

**"Hey Lusty! Need a head?"** Holding up the head of a female templar whom he'd found on the first floor, Mairon tossed the head at the Lust Demon and watched the demon attach the head to it's stump. To his suprise, the demon's skin then took on the skin tone of the templar which made Pony pant in approval along with it's summoner, **"You now owe me a favor or two..."**

"What madness is this..." Uldred asked in rising terror and immediately turned to the hostage that he had behind the barrier, "Don't come any closer or I'll-"

**"Kill a templar? You know what they called me when I was a child?"**

"Why should I care?"

**"A MONSTER!"** Mairon declared as Pony ripped off Uldred's other arm as the Senior Enchanter cried out, **"HEIR OF MAGISTERS! DESTROYER! BANE OF LIFE! FEAR OF THE SACRED! DEFILER! DEVOURER! CHILD BORN FROM THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF THE TAINTED DEEPS! SPAWN OF THE DRAGONS! ACCURSED OF ANDRASTE AND THE MAKER! PROFANER OF MORTALS! AND A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER NAMES THAT MEANT NOTHING TO ME!"**

"What...What...WHAT ARE YOU?"

**"The Fear of Templars...Devourer of Demons...I really don't care what you call me."** The Enchanter's eyes widened while Pony's form flared out with vigorous hunger, **"But don't expect us to be friends...cause tearing up my home and beating kids can make me pretty fucking violent!"**

"Did your mother not give you attention when you were a child?"

**"Oh...she gave me attention...as that Sloth Demon was kind enough to remind me."** Mairon muttered while he approached Uldred. The Enchanter regenerated his arm and fired a ray of frost which froze Mairon's body in place. However, the ice quickly melted as Mairon's power flared from his body with Pony violently ripping off Uldred's arm, **"I think my pony likes you."**

"THAT'S...NOT...A PONY!"

**"What's wrong little god? Just summon more demons, grow back your arms, use the blood of the fallen to rejuvenate yourself!"** Mairon mockingly suggested, grabbing Uldred's arm and ripping it in half so that he and his pony each held chunks of the magister's limb, **"Attack me! Fight me! Don't lie on your ass waiting for me to spoon feed you with your own flesh! Use the air to choke me! TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN! BOIL MY BLOOD!"**

"I...I...can't..."

**"Didn't think so."** Mairon casually replied with disappointment, **"Can you give me a hug?"**

"Why?" Uldred asked in utter confusion and realized that he had failed a very crucial test. Pony's dragonic jaws curled into a smile as the demon lunged for the Enchanter alongside the laughing Mairon, "MAKER NO-" Before he could speak any further, he was forever silenced by the fate which Mairon had in store for him. A fate for worse than death...a fate more cruel than any torture ever conjured in Thedas...

A fate that a shaking Cullen was forced to witness...

* * *

><p>"I don't want to know..."<p>

"Are you sure Seeker? I could tell you if you really wanted to know-"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" Cassandra stabbed her knife next to the Orator's head just to get her point further across, "So the Wardens stopped Uldred's uprising. That's nothing that I didn't know about before."

"There's a lot of little details that you didn't know."

"Believe me, perhaps I was better off not knowing about them."

"Just wait till I tell Hawke about all of this," Varric laughed and soon frowned, "Assuming I ever see him again."

"Continue your tell, what happened next?"

"The Wardens decided to leave the Tower and make sure that certain promises were kept, of course."

* * *

><p><strong>Kinloch Hold, Entrance Hall<strong>

"Knight-Commander! They're coming back!"

"About time..." Gregoir muttered, standing up from his cooked shoe and allowing two green and traumatized templars to fight over the leftovers of his meal, "Are they alone?"

"They have a group of mages with them!" The templar posted at the sealed chamber doors noted, "And the Grand Enchanter!"

"The Tower is clear." Gregoir laughed in utter relief and joy, "Thank the Maker...open the gates!"

"Commander...it could be a blood mage trick-"

"Then we'll gut the bastards if it is! Open the gates!" Gregoir quickly straightened his posture and dusted off his dirty armor in order to keep up some appearance as Knight-Commander of Kinloch Hold and stood as the Wardens led a wearied, battered and very alive Irving into the hall, "First Enchanter?"

"Gregoir...you're alive..."

"So are you are." Gregoir replied with a smile and found himself giving the old man a one armed hug much to his surprise and that of his fellow templars, "I gave you up for dead."

"You actually missed me? The crisis must have been terrible for you and your men. For that I strongly apologize."

"Then who is to blame?"

"Uldred." Wynne replied, "Uldred was behind this crisis...he started everything after he failed to raise the circle to join Teryn Loghain."

"Politics..." Gregoir spat and turned to the Wardens and company, "As for you wardens, I thank you for your efforts. You have not only saved the Circle, but have also saved my men and many in Ferelden who would have suffered at the hands of abominations."

"They would never have gotten far anyway-" Durin was slapped on his helm by Oghren before the moment could be ruined, "In any case, we were thorough in our efforts against the rebel mages. We left none alive."

"I have your word that this is true?"

"On my honor as a Warden and as a Cousland, it is." Revan assured the Knight-Commander, "We nearly lost our lives at many points, but it is done."

"Then I hereby declare this uprising dealt with-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Cullen fearfully shouted, "Any of these mages could be abominations in disguise! We must kill them all just to be sure-"

"Don't mind Cullen, he's a bit traumatized..." Cullen immediately seized up when Mairon's hand brushed his shoulder, "It might be the lyrium."

"Or whatever you did to Uldred..." Alistair said to himself, "In fact, what did you do to him?"

"He's dead."

"How?"

"Trade secret."

"As long as it means you'll leave my tower and never come back...I don't care." Gregoir stated and saw Shatele looking at his beard, "What?"

"You have cheese in your beard."

"No I don't-" The Knight-Commander stood corrected when Lady Cousland picked off a piece of cheese from his chin, "Oh...I do and I have not forgotten my lady."

"Forgot what?"

"On my honor as Knight-Commander of the Ferelden templars, I hereby pledge my support to the Warden's fight against the Blight." Gregoir declared to the Grey Wardens, "My current numbers are somewhat insufficient at the time and we must further secure the Circle Tower. But I will send word to the Aeonar to send reinforcements and to the Grand Cleric so that she may bestow the Maker's blessing on your cause."

"That's going to help." Gimli quipped, "What about the mages? We came here for their help, but most of them are dead."

"I am familiar with the Warden treaty concerning the Circle," Irving said to the dwarf, "I assure you that we will fulfill our obligations. Do not forget, one powerful mage is worth a whole platoon of armored knights as you have all seen from our newest mages, Lealion and Mairon."

"I do my best."

"Don't be modest." Mairon remarked to Lealion, "I won't be, these muggles would die five times over without me."

"So we almost die three times over because of you."

"Almost."

* * *

><p>"No wonder the guy hated mages," Varric shook his head as the Orator paused, "Arthunus sounds like the type of mage that templars shit themselves just thinking about them...and that was before whatever happened to him in the Black City."<p>

"If it is true." As much sense as it made, Cassandra still needed more information, "So the Wardens cleared the Circle Tower and took their first major step in ending the Blight?"

"Not so hasty." The Orator teased Cassandra, "We haven't even begun the Second Act..."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**That was fun, but the quest must continue.**

**Hope that this chapter was worth the wait, but the Circle Tower Arc is officially done. The next two chapters will be...interesting...and then I'll likely divide the wardens for reasons that will be elaborated on in dialogue.**

**PS: If Mairon's Black Magic appears similar to Alucard's powers from Hellsing, then it's somewhat coincidental. The dynamics of a "Black Mage" will be elaborated more as we move along. But I have a strong suspicion that it's directly related to the Black City...I wonder why?**


	27. Preparations, Changes and Stars

**Arl of Denerem's Dungeon**

Arl of Mighty Amaranthine, Arl of Structured Denerem and Teryn of a Contested though Majestic Highever, Rendon Howe ate a small, but filling meal in front of his favorite "friend".

He had often recalled how Urien always complained about the over-sized basement that the Orlesians put in the estate. According to his subjects, Urien rarely came down here on fear of being reminded of the horrors of the occupation. Urien had three older children, all of whom had met long and cruel deaths at the hands of orlesian interrogators within this very cellar.

Urien's last child, Vaughen, had a very different mindset.

Rendon's son, Thomas, always went on and on about how he would join Vaughen in his "parties". How elf girls would be locked in the basement so that they could be hunted and this made spoiling them all the more fun. There were still a few elf girls locked in this dungeon when Howe was given command of the city.

Sadly, they didn't last long for his games.

Unlike Vaughen or his son and heir, Rendon's tastes were more pragmatic and planned rather than wild and lustful. Every single victim in his dungeon was here for a purpose and their suffering came as a result of their defiance in word or gesture. Though he enjoyed their torment, he did so out of professional pride rather than barbaric enjoyment. After the Battle of White River left him, Leonas and Bryce as the only survivors, Rendon employed and improved his specialty in suffering to prevent such a disaster from ever happening again. Something that would not be possible if he degraded himself into a gibbering animal.

He was silent during the war when those shrill orlesian whores screamed and begged him not to remove the joints of their fingers when they refused to inform him of Orlesian battle plans.

One time, he recalled strapping a crippled Orlesian chevalier into full plate armor and dipping him into boiling water for minutes at a time and only pulling him out to check if he would betray his lord.

But with this favorite "friend", he made an exception.

"So you gave your wife four kids." Rendon took another bite from the overcooked sausage as his hanging victim kept his head down, "And now they're all dead. One at White River...one at Highever and the rest at Ostagar, how does that make you feel?"

"But I'm castrated...how do I have kids?"

"Had kids, they're dead now and you won't be having any more." Howe laughed, waving the cooked half-eaten sausage in his victim's face before ripping out another piece to be devoured, "I'm disappointed, you know?"

"Because you're gay?"

"No because-" Howe realized that his victim just insulted him, "What?"

"You're eating my dick."

"No I'm not! It's a sausage-"

"So how do you have kids if you like sausages more than buns?" Howe knew that addling his victim's minds would be inconvenient at times. But this was the first time that it had ever started to piss him off, "Is that why you cut off my penis? Because you were jealous of how much bigger it was than yours?"

"I cut it off because-"

"Or do you have penis?" The victim inquired, "Did I cut off your dick and eat it? So you're doing the same to me as revenge-"

"Breaks over...time to play..." Despite his state, the bastard's spirit still had some fight within it. Howe would have to fix that in preparation for much expected news...

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess<strong>

"We don't need you."

"I believe your comrades would object." Wynne stated in response to Mairon's objection to her joining the party, "I believe that I would be of more use to the end of this Blight alongside you."

"We already have a healer."

"And you guys get jacked up so much that I'm thinking of charging you for each spell." Lealion added, "Besides! I like Wynne! I can have someone to talk to in this crazy mess of a group!"

"And here I thought that we were all friends."

"If that were true then everyone would not agree that a Blight is the perfect time to start killing each other." A humored Morrigan pointed out, "Marvelous, really."

"What's so marvelous about people not being friends?"

"The sheer stupidity of it all." Morrigan answered Shatele, "And you actually believe that having mages and templars would help us? They're more likely to destroy each other."

"The witch has a point." Durin agreed, "Hence I fear that Cousland's negotiations would be...problematic."

"Then why didn't you go in? Oh wait! I know why!" Brosca began to answer his own question, "Because someone thought it would be a great idea to destroy all of the boats! So we all had to swim and climb along riggidy ruins back to the mainland!"

"Cause ya can't swim?"

"I managed...but that's not the point Oghren."

"I don't whatcha belchin about. Ya did what ya had ta do and now you've started buildin that army that ya need."

"Can you repeat all of that except with proper grammer?" Brosca inquired and was unsurprised when Oghren farted out fire that burnt a nearby roasted nug, "Nevermind...no wonder your single."

"I'm married! To a Paragon!"

"And I'm the Arlessa of Denerem." Lily giggled while Oghren started wrestling the roasted nug and was somehow losing...badly, "What happened here last time is gonna stay here right?"

"How much are ya paying?" Brosca inquired and felt the burning stare of every female except for an apathetic Morrigan, "Fine...fine..."

"Maintain your thirst better kinswoman and it won't need to be brought up." Gilead chuckled as he finished off his wine, "Another!"

"When this Blight's over, I expect my tab to get paid!" The Innkeeper yelled, "And how long until I can get my office back?"

"You're asking the wrong people..."

"Screw it then! I'm going to bed!"

* * *

><p><strong>Innkeeper's Office<strong>

"I object!"

"I can imagine why." Revan stated to the outraged Greagoir, "But the Grey Wardens will not require all mages to be chaperoned by the templars-"

"You would risk Ferelden's safety-"

"This is for Ferelden's salvation." Revan firmly stated, "The mages will be most efficient when led by mage commanders. If the mages request templar reinforcements then you will receive it and vice versa with your men requiring mage support."

"You realize how many mages will attempt to flee?"

"Irving? Are the phylacteries intact?"

"Yes, Uldred's men never managed to reach the basement before you and your fellows stopped him." Irving answered, "If I may interject, I appreciate your faith and trust considering the circumstances. But surely you see the validity of Greagoir's objections?"

"That was why I inquired of the phylacteries." Revan replied, "The phylacteries of every mage in the open field will be kept in the possession of the main templar force. If at any point, a mage goes missing without the knowledge and against the orders of their assigned commander, the templars will have full leave to hunt and capture the mage to be returned to the circle. If the mage refuses to comply, then by all means kill him."

"And what if the mage finds out about their phylactery?"

"I would expect you to keep such information close at hand." Revan stated, "I will tell you the truth, I have no love for certain practices that your order employs. The hypocrisy of the phylactery being one of them."

"You're never going to shut up about that-"

"But this is bigger than mages and templers and I pray that you never forget that." Revan warned the Knight-Commander, "You gave a solemn oath to aid the Grey Wardens against the Blight and I expect you to fulfill that oath to the best of your ability. If that means allowing the Circle mages to have a little more roaming room then so be it. I am certain that First Enchanter Irving will impress upon his fellow mages the importance of cooperation and the consequences of any breach in the trust of the Grey Wardens."

"Understood Commander."

"I'm not commander...not formally at least."

"Still...you do remind me of Duncan somewhat. Maker rest his soul." Irving said with a tinge of sadness, "For his sake and all others who have suffered because of this Blight...this arrangement will not lead to ill results."

"After Uldred's rebellion, I am not quite so confident." A more subdued Greagoir admitted, "Just tell me where to assemble my men."

"For now, keep them in the vicinity of Lake Calenhad's Northern Shores." Revan advised, "Try to keep the roads to and from the lake protected from darkspawn scouting parties. For now, the main horde is in the south."

"Yes, I ear that the South Hills are being overrun by those monsters."

"Unfortunately." Revan took a moment to exhale at this tidbit of information, "I would not count out Arl Wulff yet however. The man withstood a five year siege by the Orlesians before he rallied and broke it."

"But those orlesians did not have near the endless legion that the darkspawn will have." The Knight-Commander added, "Please tell me that the mages and my men aren't the only forces at your disposal warden."

"At the moment...save for a few volunteers from the docks...yes, you are."

"I do hope that you plan to amend this soon, we cannot fight this Blight by ourselves."

"For now, you're all that can fight."

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess<strong>

"So we're here." Mairon stated, a large map unfurled on two joined tables, "Ostagar is a meat pit...Lothering burns...that village on the River Dane is screwed...and we've just cleaned out the circle tower of demons and pathetically novice blood mages."

"Novice blood mages?"

"If they had more practice then none of you would be alive."

"I had to concur, but your assessment is correct." Sten muttered, "Now what? When will we face the darkspawn?"

"When we're ready to fight them." Mahariel answered the qunari, "The templars and mages will be valuable allies-"

"As long as the mages are not possessed and there are sufficient darkspawn emissaries for the magic knights to use their magic against-"

"But it will not be enough without a sufficient strong line of soldiers."

"Circle Mages...Templars...Irregulars...Sellswords...a good start." Alistair commented, "But this is no army."

"Maric liberated Ferelden with much less." Shatele pointed out, "And it's only the beginning!"

"I concur with the templar, our current gathering of allies does not qualify as an army." Durin stated, "Then where shall we go to gather our army?"

"There is news of a clan of my people that dwell in the Brecilian Forest." Gilead reported, pointing out the forest to the east upon the map, "The Dalish Clans have long assisted the wardens against the Blights and have no regard for human politics. If we can contact one clan, word will spread to all others within this region of Thedas."

"Elven marksmenship has it's place in combat. But they will do little save annoy the horde." Durin countered, "If we want to break the lines of the darkspawn horde, we will require the heavy steel of Orzammar's legions."

"I still think Arl Eamon would be our best supporter, he has a lot of leverage in the Bannorn and was Cailan's uncle." Alistair added, "Sooner or later, we will have to deal with Loghain."

"And Howe." Revan scratched his nail against Amaranthine, "But where will the army gather?"

"West Hill may be a good spot." Alistair offered, "It's in a good position and from what I hear, it's held by men who aren't loyal to Loghain-"

"But it's set in between Bann Loren and Highever..." Shatele pointed out, "The army would be caught in the middle of the Civil War and torn apart. West Hill is too well-known by Loghain, he lived there once."

"What about Killarney?" Gimli grabbed his face and fell down laughing at Lily's suggestion, "Oh shut it! I'd love to hear someone come up with a better-"

"At Soldier's Peak." Revan offered, "That is...once we accomplish our favor to the Dryden Family. The fortress held strong against the full force of Ferelden's army while manned by less than a hundred wardens. Loghain's supporters won't even dare approach the fortress..."

"Of course not. No one even knows where it is." Lily countered, "Levi's map is the only thing that even acknowledges the Peak's existence or has an idea about where it is. Speaking of which, how does Levi know that the fortress will even be there?"

"If I may interject?" Levi politely asked, "The Dryden's are a black name in Ferelden, but elsewhere we have allies in many places. On my brother's grave, the fortress is exactly where it is on the map."

"A fortress cannot be on a map."

"Durin..." Gimli wasn't in the mood for Aeducan's shit.

"However, time is of the essence...every ally that we can gather soon will be an ally that won't be destroyed or driven away later by the darkspawn or the Civil War. But we need to maximize the amount of allies that we gather."

"So we split up?" Leliana asked, "One group goes with the Dryden and the other goes to the Brecilian Forest."

"Or Arl Eamon." Alistair suggested and was ignored, "Fine! I'm the only one who thinks that he matters in this situation..."

"Redcliffe is a strong defensible location, we won't have to hasten to Eamon for now." Revan assured the senior warden, "But with Brecilian close to the advance of the darkspawn, the dalish must be contacted and recruited before the darkspawn drive them from Ferelden."

"What about Orzammar?"

"There is no hurry to return home." Durin concluded, "Orzammar has withstood the power of the darkspawn for over a thousand years with or without warden aid. It's strength will not be diminished if we fail to hasten to the city."

"Then we are agreed, I will lead the group going to Brecillian." Gilead stated to the obvious objection of several members of the party, "Otherwise, the clan may shoot you on sight."

"And I will go with Levi." Revan decided, "Everyone is free to choose their path from this point on. You can go to Soldier's Peak or to the Brecillian Forest. Afterwards, we'll regroup in the Frostback Mountains and enter Orzammar."

"And Arl Eamon-"

"Will you shut up about this Arl Eamon?" Morrigan inquired, "Is he your father or something?"

"No, that's Ma-" Alistair loudly coughed and fortunately Shatele caught the hint, "Maple..."

"Maple?"

"Maple!" Shatele shouted, "Could me and Alistair be excused brother?"

"Go ahead." Revan gave the ex-templar a subtle glance that said everything that needed to be said before he turned back to the party, "Then again...perhaps we should visit Redcliffe...if only to truly ascertain Eamon's stance in the war and the rumors concerning his health."

"In the meantime, I suppose I shall lead my group here and await you." Gilead scratched out a black mark somewhere in the Frostback Mountains, "One of the tavern's customers gave an especially lively account of the village named Haven. It is isolated from the rest of the nation and aren't very friendly to strangers."

"How is this a good place to hide?"

"Once you grease a few palms then anywhere can be a great place to hide."

"Greasing a palm only dirties the hand, it doesn't make you more capable of hiding."

"It's an expression-"

"A terrible expression." How Aeducan's head was not filled with bolts at that very moment was a true mystery for Brosca, "How would anyone connect such a terrible metaphor to it's literal intention?"

"That's the irony of it-"

"Irony is the use of words expressing something other than their literal intention-"

"Warden Cousland, how went negotiations with the Knight-Commander and Irving?"

"In short, the Knight-Commander wasn't exactly happy with our recommended structure of mage and templar forces." Revan explained as Mairon laughed and collected his earnings from his won bet with Gimli and Surana, "But I managed to persuade him to along with it...somehow..."

"Then I assume you had no knowledge of the Mage's Collective?" Surana inquired, "You know...that disguised mage out in the dock harbors? He's one of their liasons."

"Mage's Collective? Who are they?"

"A group of mages who operate independent of Chantry restrictions." Lealion answered, "Well-intentioned, but kind of risky considering chantry paranoia."

"With that kind of talk, you sound more like a Libertarian."

"A what?"

"Oh yeah...we're with muggles..." Lealion chuckled to Gilead's annoyance, "Think of it as circles within circles. Their groups of enchanters in any given Circle with their own policy and political viewpoints. Aequitarians, like Wynne and Irving himself, promote a moderate viewpoint that mages must use their abilities in a responsible and ethical manner, regardless of the Chantry law."

"Though she is not yet an Enchanter, Surana has been listening to Mckellen who is a Libertarian," Wynne scoffed with humor, "Libertarians desire the Circle to become an autonomous, self-regulating order without Chantry involvement at any level. Some prefer peaceful and diplomatic methods and others like Uldred's followers...do not."

"They're called Resolutionists and represent a minority of mages who have accepted the inevitable use of violence." Mairon added, "Before I became a warden, I'd wanted to join that order."

"You realize Resolutionists are more heavily monitored by the templars-"

"They try to tranquilize me and I'll put up a better fight than the Chantry ass-kissers." Mairon laughed and was disappointed by how his insult flew over most heads, "Oh right! Loyalists are Chantry apologists who bend over and let the Chantry shame them for their Maker given gifts. They have no qualms with the Chantry and the templar's ever-present observation. For instance, you all remember Keili? Guess which fraternity that she'll end up joining."

"And where the mages who sit back and make a profit from everyone else's bickering?"

"The Lucrosians..." Wynne muttered in exasperation, "I believe Godwin was one of it's only few members in this circle."

"That poor enchanter that Gimli shuffled off of the mortal-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll shuffle you off the coil." Gimli warned the amused Durin, "For all we know, he could've been one of Uldred's boys."

"Who was Godwin?"

"Oh yes, you were off in the caves with two women for yourself." Gimli teased Revan, "I'd count Oghren as competition, but he's married and it's never safe to cheat on a paragon."

"Keep your skinny surface women! I prefer thick legs with muscle and huge tits to suckle!" A drunk Oghren boasted and bashed another mug on his head, "And then we'd go swimming! And I get ta see their hairy-" The dwarf belched before he laughed and fell out of his chair.

"30 pints? Is that all he does?"

"They come in pints!" Surana gleefully realized as Wynne rolled her eyes, "30's a good number...it's great being a healer sometimes!"

"Young lady! If you overdo it, I will not be there to heal your mind in the morning!" Wynne warned as she stormed over to Oghren and began ensuring that he wouldn't die of intoxication, "Thirty pints...young people these days..."

"I am not young! I have past my fortieth year! A dwarf's vitality is much lengthier than a humans!"

"Younger than her, I'll take it. Most Dusters are considered old if they pass 40."

"It is beginning to stink in here..." Gilead said to himself, pinching his nose close, "I need air."

"Do you mind if I accompany you?" The Orlesian Bard inquired of Mahariel, "Just for a while and I-"

"That is no problem for me." Considering the aid that she gave in the tower, Gilead saw no qualm with stomaching her presence for a little while...

* * *

><p><strong>Inn Backroom<strong>

"Why did you stop me?"

"Because you were about to blab about me being Maric's son!"

"Oh...I was...sorry..."

"It's..it's alright..." Alistair couldn't stay mad at Shatele's regretful expression, "It's just that every time people know about my parentage, it always...changes them."

"Changes how they think about you? Or the color of their eyelashes?"

"Eamon has grayed somewhat quicker than most or maybe that's more Lady Isolde's fault than mine." Alistair laughed and quickly composed himself, "Honestly, people go out of their way to protect me just because I'm Maric's son. That was the only reason that Arl Eamon took me in...hell! Even Duncan shielded me from really dangerous missions because of it."

"Odd...I would think that Duncan wouldn't care." Shatele had heard tales of how Maric's friendship with Duncan was what brought the Grey Wardens back into Ferelden. Maybe Duncan felt indebted to the post-humous king, "Or he maybe he shielded you more because of how you were a junior warden..."

"I used to think so, but you remember Ostagar. Duncan insisted on having me go with your brother and the other wardens when...when I wasn't needed. The more that I think about it...the more that..." Alistair's expression saddened as it often did when Duncan or the other wardens were brought up, "There was no reason that I shouldn't have been on the field with Duncan and the others. The only reason that Duncan put me in the tower was because it was the safest place in case anything went wrong...out of some debt to a dead king."

"Did you ever know your father?"

"He'd occasionally visit Redcliffe and ask me how it was...but I could the number of visits on one hand. He stopped by the Chantry where I was training and waved at me...but I'm sure if he was waving at me or that initiate with the large breasts." Alistair recounted, "But it's not like there was any point to arranging for my care...it was made very clear to me that I was in no way in line for the throne. I was just the by-blow of a king and a star-struck maid."

"And now you are the last of your line." Shatele absently pointed out, "You are the king's son and Cailan was your brother? Now Cailan's dead and he had no heir to the throne."

"So I should just declare to the world that I'm Maric's bastard and they should all kneel before me as king? The country would sooner accept Orlais as their masters than bow before a bastard king-"

"That's not funny." Shatele stated with a serious reproachful frown, "You've heard the rumors haven't you? Even without Loghain as regent, the bannorn will never unite behind Anora as sole ruler. She has no royal blood and no legitimate claim to the throne save as Cailan's widow. If we want to save Ferelden, Ferelden will need a true ruler that can end this civil war and unite it's people to help the Wardens against the blight."

"Alright, that's a good observation." Alistair conceded, "Now lets say that I wanted to be king? Which I don't! The very idea terrifies me, mind you! How would I prove it? How would I prove that I'm Maric's bastard? The only ones who knew for certain of my parentage were Arl Eamon, the King, Cailan, probably Anora, Loghain and Duncan. Maric, Cailan and Duncan are dead. Loghain wants to rule the country and is actively trying to kill me for being a warden. Anora is said to be her father's daughter, which should say everything right there. Which leaves Eamon whose currently shut away in Redcliffe away from the outside world and according to what one of this knight's in Redcliffe said...he's sick and bedridden. So even if I wanted to be king, how would I possibly back that claim?"

"I understand," Shatele replied with a shrug, "Revealing who you are now would just needlessly complicate things."

"Exactly! I'm so glad that you understand..." Alistair remarked with a relieved sign, "Now if only I can convince your brother..."

"Brother knows?"

"We ended up sharing the same dream in the Fade." Alistair explained, unsure about some details best left unsaid to Lady Cousland, "The Sloth Demon must have seen our common bond with Duncan and...connected it that way."

"Oh...how was-"

"I'd rather not talk about it right now." Alistair straightened when he saw Revan approach, "Hi there! Enjoying the celebrations?"

"As fun as they are, I'll have to retire early."

"Brother..."

"I'm feeling...tired..." Shatele's expression betrayed her worry as her brother lightly ran his hand over his upper chest, "I don't think I've slept too well since the Tower."

"Then, rest up. We'll be sure to wake you before we leave." Alistair assured as Revan nodded and embraced his sister before he left the two of them alone, "He didn't look so well."

"What happened to him? Does it have something to do with you being in the Fade?"

"Maybe, I don't know. He is a non-mage with a connection to the Fade, maybe the raw energies that we came into contact with had a bad affect on his health." Alistair guessed, "Plus, using that Spirit Aura puts a massive strain on his body and that only increases when it's absorbing damage from attacks."

"I hope that he'll be alright..."

"He soldiered through the Tower, I'm sure that he just needs a good night's rest."

"I think he may need more than that." It was then that Shatele remembered the red juice that Lily always made for Revan, "If brother didn't need it, I would try it..."

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess Upper Floor<strong>

Downstairs everyone was drinking and celebrating, but not him.

Uldred's Rebellion had created a large atmosphere of uncertainty and fear amongst the denizens of the docks. In fact, the incident from the warden's arrival was the first time that these people had any real reason to laugh. Granted, their best drinker and his friend were utterly humiliated in a drinking game against Alistair, Oghren, Gimli, Gilead and Lily.

And it wasn't an easy win...as the state of his fellow wardens had revealed.

Now that Uldred was stopped and the Circle cleansed of abominations, demons and blood mages, the people of Lake Calenhad were in much higher spirits. Spirits risen higher due to a few mages and templars intermingling with the cheering common-folk, a rare sight that could only be attributed to the mutual terror of the recently passed situation.

But he would not join them.

His strange new connection to the energies of the Fade had it's lasting toll on Revan's body. While in the Fade, he could feel it's energies more strongly draw to his body after he broke out of the Sloth demon's trap. Even after he awoke, he felt more of the Fade's weight when he drew on it's power, like a constant fire upon his skin that never went out and coursed burning heat through his blood. It had been a full four days since he had last placed a foot into the Fade as a Spirit Warrior and his body still hadn't fully recovered.

But even if his body weren't so strained, there would be no time to celebrate for Revan Cousland. Not until the Blight was ended, not until the Civil War ended, not until Loghain was held accountable for his desertion and the destruction of the Grey Wardens...

After Howe hung from the gibbet, for the sport of his own bears...the last son of House Cousland would celebrate.

Until then, Revan looked upon a small personal map of Ferelden that he managed to grab from his Family's treasury that fateful night. At the moment, he was using it to mark off portions of the land and potential paths that would close soon or had already closed because of the Blight's reach. Not only that, he also tried to ascertain the affiliations of freeholds and other noble-held lands.

Lothering had been destroyed and overran by the darkspawn while the wardens liberated the Circle Tower.

The South Hills were even now under heavy assault by the darkspawn with Arl Wulff's forces contesting them foot by foot.

Most of Gwaren's forces were in the north under Loghain's direct command, which likely left the region vulnerable once the darkspawn made their way there.

South Reach was a heavy contender in the bannorn and amongst the loudest critics of Loghain's regency.

No word had left Redcliffe in over a month, which meant there was no way to ascertain the truth concerning Eamon's health.

Denerem was firmly the capital of Loghain's regency and directly under Howe's government.

Amaranthine was of course, Howe's bread basket.

Highever...though Howe had been appointed it's Teryn, there were rumors that some lords loyal to the Couslands had continued to resist Howe's forces.

The rest of the bannorn was too conflicted to know for certain. Some fought Loghain, some fought for Loghain, and others fought each other, using the chaos of an absent throne and a valid, unanimously selected ruler to command them. It was quite depressing to see just how much Ferelden was handing itself to the Blight on a golden platter.

Though he had lingering thoughts about splitting up the party, those thoughts were gone as soon as Revan realized just how little time his homeland had.

"What can be done?" Even if the wardens hurried, there was always the strong possibility that they would be too late. Even if they gathered all of the treaty signatories into an army, how would they fight the darkspawn alone? In order to save Ferelden, Ferelden would need to join its strength to the wardens and as things stood, there was little to no guarantee that the country would have any strength left once this Civil War had ran it's natural course.

"Kill the boy...Kill the boy, Revan..." He remembered those words uttered to him by his father when he told him that he wanted to become a Grey Warden. His father warned him that Wardens did not accept boys into their ranks, but men. Not just men in stature, but men in mind and heart. If Revan was truly dedicated to the cause of the wardens, he had to kill that boy. It was only this lesson that allowed him to leave behind his mortally wounded father...to wrench his sister away from their parents and force her to run.

But though the boy was dead, Revan wasn't sure what a man should do in this situation.

"Maybe we should send word to the wardens in Jadar...or be prepared to even leave Ferelden altogether-" Revan's thought was interrupted by a knock at the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Lily! Your sister wanted me to bring you your medicine."

"Alright...you're not going to throw a knife at me right?"

"If I wanted to do that, I would've picked the lock and done it by now."

"Come in, my lady." The door swung open to reveal an annoyed Lily who practically pitched the glass bottle at Revan who caught it, "I'm just being polite."

"Shut up and drink your medicine." Lily demanded, "Your sister thinks that your medicine tastes like wild berries...or as she put it, swamp berries."

"It does taste a little similar...almost like...a wild berry from Denerem. Ever had one, my lady-"

"Just call me Lily and once or twice...too sweet for my taste." Tabris stated with a sign and saw the map, "You holding out on us?"

"There's nothing on this map that wasn't discussed downstairs."

"So why was Gimli laughing at Killarnay?"

"Look here." Revan directed Lily to the map while he finished off the vial, "The castle is in an open plain, with only one freehold nearby that would be sympathetic to our cause. On all other sides are Loghain supporters...it would be an uphill battle just to properly garrison the fort and they'd be stuck there for the entire blight. The city is also notorious for it's resident guild of thieves."

"Thieves?"

"Why do you think Orlais abandoned the city without a fight?"

"Cause you shems smell like wet dog?" Both wardens had a little chuckle over that common remark, "Seriously though, you shouldn't stay up here. We just cleaned out a whole tower filled with demons and-"

"There's nothing to celebrate yet." Revan countered, "Is the Blight over? Is Loghain brought to justice? Does Howe hang? No. Until then, I have nothing to celebrate-"

"A pity party?" Lily inquired, "That's what the strong, noble Revan Cousland does after victory? He pities himself and cries himself to sleep?"

"It's not about pity, it's about keeping perspective." Revan remarked, "We're not done yet. I can't let myself become complacent with a small victory when there's so much left to be done."

"Okay...what happened to you in the Fade?" Lily demanded, "This doesn't sound like the guy who tanked an Ogre's punch to save his sister."

"You haven't exactly made an extended attempt to know me."

"Why do you think I'm still in the room?" Lily pointed, Revan also noticed that the door to his room had oddly shut, "Everyone's noticed and I guess I'll have to say something about it. You look really drained Revan...you look like you've been dragging a wagon made of stone. Whatever weight you picked up, you need to drop it or it'll get worst-"

"I'll fail like I failed my family, right?"

"So the Sloth Demon threw you back into Castle Cousland?" A crack in Revan's visage told Lily everything, "And in order to break out..."

"I had to let them all die." Revan replied as he turned away and slammed his fist on the wall, "I won't fail Ferelden like I failed Father...or my brother...if he's still alive which I honestly doubt. I won't let myself rest and...others die because of it."

"If you never rest, you'll burn yourself out. Believe it or not...I know how you feel..." Lily hugged the warden from behind, surprising herself with how much she didn't want to bar from physical contact, "But you have to take these small moments and breath them. What we did here was really amazing! There's nothing with celebrating your victories...and setting the bar for the last grand one when all of this over and...that's a ways off though."

"I suppose that you're right...thank you."

"Thank you! You're the one who actually helped me out at the Tower." Lily reminded the warden when she released him and he turned to face her, "I basically relived Vaughen plus a few other humans in the Fade! It fed off of my hatred and my despair...with a little help from Morrigan, I was reminded that not all humans are as bad as Vaughen. In fact, I'm sure most shems are decent folk who certainly don't deserve to die. You wanna know why? Cause even after I tried to kill you...not only did you not kill me...but you also didn't take advantage me...for the second time."

"I happen to prefer willing partners."

"Like most decent human beings." Lily remarked, "You may have been born with a silver spoon...but that doesn't change your heart of gold."

"What."

"Don't pull a Durin on me! You get the point!" Her face was now an inch from Revan's and both of them were smirking, both knew that Lily's line was corny, "I'm just a lowly elf with freakish blue hair from the downtrodden Alienage! I don't exactly have a large vocabulary."

"It's actually much larger than most humans of higher status."

"I made due with what I had."

"Try harder. That line was bad."

"How about something I learned from a pirate?"

"Try me." Revan's eyes widened when he realized that Lily Tabris' lips had pressed upon and opened his own lips allowing her tongue to slip in and...do things that Revan never thought a tongue could do to a mouth. Ten seconds later, Lily broke the kiss with an expression that seemed just as shocked and surprised as Revan's, "Are you alright?"

"That felt good...I honestly thought that I was gonna barf all over you." Lily laughed, "Okay...that was good..that was..."

"Fantastic...where did you learn to do that?"

"Isabella."

"Isabella from the Pearl?"

"Who else?"

"Interesting..." Revan nodded, recalling his own "experience" the frequent customer at the famous Denerem Brothel, "Did you-"

"Who hasn't?"

"Fair point." Revan conceded when he felt Lily's cheek upon his chest, "Ah...are you sure that you're alright Lily?"

"You said that we'd talk about something back in the caves." Revan was puzzled by Lily's words, but listened on, "Something about me...having feelings that I shouldn't have for a human?"

"Oh...that..." The Desire Demon hadn't motivated Lily solely for anger, it's primary attribute was lust for a reason and that implication caused blood to flow through Revan's head, "I...you really don't have to..."

"Just humor me, Revan. There's just one innocent thing that I want to try out." Something about the way Lily's fingers twiddled with the strings of her tunic left Revan strangely. Whatever Lily's request was, there was a strong chance that he would humor it, "Please?"

"Alright. But if you say anything about a feather-" Lily clocked Revan upside the head and knocked him onto his bed, "I'm sorry...did I offend you my lady?"

"Yes indeed sir and I intend to make you pay for it." Based on how hastily Lily threw off her shirt and exposed her perky aroused breasts, Revan knew he'd enjoy "paying" her.

* * *

><p><strong>The Long Road<strong>

It took forever, but Zevran had finally tracked down the Grey Wardens.

Even now, he was only less than an hour's walk outside of a small settlement on Lake Calenhad's shores. The Antivan Crow still remembered how long it took to pry out any useful information from the fleeing Ferelden that one of his men had found. The blibbering man smelt of dog and piss and Zevran recalled focusing very hard to hear the man through his stuttering.

The ugly face did not help either.

However, the refugee in question had overheard the Wardens talking in Lothering about traveling to the Circle Tower in Lake Calenhad. So Zevran had the refugee "silenced" before he and his band of competent, if dim-witted, scoundrels set out for the Lake whose beautiful surface already reflected the clear moon-lit sky. It would be a beautiful night indeed.

"I believe we should stop here." Zevran commanded his entourage, "But before we send our lovely rogue mage ahead, let us go over our plan of action, no?"

"I run into town, screaming for help from darkspawn." The lovely lady of the group answered, "Once I find anyone who meets the wanted poster, I plead and beg for their help. Crying that my family is under attack from darkspawn."

"Then you lead them back here...then?"

"I cut down those trees and pin them up with you!" A large brute answered gleefully as if he wanted to cut down the large tree nearby right then and there, "Or crush them!"

"And then?"

"You kill the wardens, capture the women and we rape them!" Said rapist immediately had his throat slit and was left clutching his throat as he fell to the ground.

"No gentlemen! We don't rape women! We seduce them into willingly letting us plot their precious flowers." Zevran corrected, licking the fresh blood from his long-knife, "And someone mentioned that I would kill all of the wardens...I could do this, but then why am I sharing my earnings with all of you?"

"So what do we do?"

"We attack him right? Charge them and gut them like pigs-"

"We have crossbows no?" The assassin asked his dull-witted companion, "Would it not be more intelligent to shoot the wardens from cover? No?"

"Oh yeah!" Zevran hated this country and it's idiotic people, "That's why you're the boss."

"Amongst other things-" Zevran's concentration was then interrupted by a rare sight in the night sky, "A shooting star?"

"Really?" One of the more superstitious mercenary's cried as if he were bouncing for joy, "We can make a wish on it!"

"I don't believe that is how it-" Unless someone happened to have wished for his death. In which case, Zevran noticed that the shooting star was veering down towards them as the light it gave off began to glow brighter and brighter, "Maker's breath-"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Sometimes trains skip on their tracks. Some skips are higher than others, but something may fall off and get left by the road. Or, something may get thrown into a place where it wasn't originally placed, but since it doesn't stop the train, the train just keeps going.**

**I kind of got a little bored with the "Will They? Won't They?" dynamic of Lily and Revan's relationship and choose this chapter to evolve it to the level of, "They did, now what?" And to be honest, I may be just as surprised with the consequences as you will be. Some of you likely guessed that I was already going for CouslandxTabris, but I didn't want them to instantly grow attracted and suddenly want to grind each other's pelvis' considering their backgrounds. Hopefully, this development appears to make sense after 27 chapters...ignoring that it's been a little over a month (But crisis' are proven make people bond faster)**

**This is about the point where Zevran would show up and try to kill the Wardens. Then I remembered something from the Warden's Peak DLC that inspired me to have a little more...fun...**

**How much fun? Tune in for the next chapter to find out.**


	28. Traps, Falling Skies and Beautiful Crows

****Lake Calenhad****

"You're not nearly as irritating as I feared you would be."

"I know we do not see eye to eye on many things, but that does not mean we cannot be friends."

"Perhaps." Despite having no love for the Chantry or Orlais, the bard preparing her arrows had proven to be tolerable company to the Sabre Seeker, "Perhaps we should work towards greater understanding rather then strive for conflict."

"But true art emerges from adversity."

"What do you mean?"

"It can be messy, but conflict and adversity challenges people. It allows them to grow and change for the better." Leliana explained, "Lets say you wardens, though some get along better with a few others, for the most part you tend to clash over almost everything."

"We come from different walks of life, it is to be expected."

"Yet, you have come to accept those differences through your clashes and have even found ways that you are the same." Leliana further added while Gilead pondered her words, "You and Brosca are heavily competitive and possess a love for archery and folklore. Cousland and Tabris are fiercely proud, determined and dedicated to their families and to their people. Aeducan and Amell possess great pride in what they are and-"

"Enjoy rubbing it into people's faces to where they're driven insane." Leliana had to agree with Gilead's assessment, "We would be at each other's throats if not for this Blight. What we went through at Ostagar more than proved to us what was truly important."

"Ostagar...none of your fellow wardens ever speak of it. Could you tell me what happened?" Leliana carefully inquired, "I know that it was terrible for you and you don't-"

"I suppose I could indulge that curiosity." Unlike some of the other wardens particularly Alistair, Gilead had managed to divorce himself from that fateful night to focus upon the future. Mostly because Gilead lost nothing at Ostagar save for his treasured bow, "I only as much as I remember before the darkspawn overwhelmed me."

"Tell me what you can...people will want to hear stories of your survival."

"In that event would you prefer a lie or the truth?"

"What would you want?"

"The truth of course." Gilead answered while the Bard waited for him to start his tale, "King Cailan led his army at the southern entrance overlooked by a great bridge. Duncan and the other Grey Wardens were with him in the vanguard. The plan was for myself and the others to light a signal in the Tower of Ishal within the fortress. When the signal was lit, Loghain was to lead his forces into a charge to entrap and defeat the darkspawn."

"But Loghain fled."

"He did, but looking back perhaps that was the best course of action that he could have taken." Gilead stated, knowing fully well that he'd best keep this opinion to himself or risk the wrath of his fellow wardens who were native to Ferelden, "By the time that our rabble of newly recruited wardens had come to the Tower, darkspawn had already emerged from a hidden tunnel and had overran it. Cousland managed to rally what remained of the garrison to help us win the entrance though few survived to retake Ostagar and fewer made it with us to the top floor."

"It must have been terrible." Leliana commented, "But I have heard of the ogre that was at the top, how did it get up there?"

"There were five of them and I'd guess that they climbed or are more nimble than they'd let on." Gilead figured, honestly uncertain about the answer himself, "All I know is that myself, Amell and Aeducan rode an ogre as it was cast from the top floor and crushed it's back on Ostagar's stone floor. Soon afterwards, the Tower was lit, but by then, it was too late. Perhaps the fog of war had been shaken from my elven sight, but I saw the endless reaches of the horde spanning as far south into the wilds as I could spy. I initially forgot due to my haste in battle and because of my eventual injuries, but I knew then that the battle for Ostagar was lost before it started. Whether Loghain had charged or not, nothing would have changed."

"You sound as though you agree with his action..."

"I cannot pretend to know his exact intentions, but retreating was the best decision that he could have made on that night. Or else more souls would have been pointlessly sent to through the Beyond."

"I see...thank you for telling me."

"Thank you for listening, recounting the story was honestly more troubling than I had anticipated." Gilead admitted to the bard, "But, it is best to let these things go rather than hold them in."

"That...is..." Before Gilead to question the girl's sudden reluctance, her eyes widened in glee as she spotted something in the sky, "Look! Shooting stars!"

"Is that so?" Gilead followed the girl's eyes up into the sky where indeed several stars where shooting across the night sky...

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess Upper Floor<strong>

"Brother?" This was not the time. "Are you alright Revan?"

"Shatele?" Especially since Revan was currently in the middle of coitis with a strangely naturally blue haired elf whose nails dug into his back as he grinded his "third arm" in an out of her tight "front bottom". Further complicated by how Lily had decided to brush his "Fade Mark" and activate his Spirit Aura.

"What's wrong shem? Scared of getting caught with your cock stuck in the honey pot-" The girl gasped when Revan thrusted up to his hilt and held on even tighter, "Is that all you got? You've got size...now use it!"

"Revan?"

"I am...tired...at the...moment..." Revan was caught between his own unleashed sexual hunger and his own desire to keep Shatele from entering the room. Lily wasn't make things any easier due to her moans of clear pleasure, "I am...feeling much better!"

"I bet you are..."

"You're not helping!"

"I thought was..."

"Is Lily in there with you?"

"Yes and we're playing a game that needs a lot of concentration and-" Revan gasped from the tightening of Lily's insides, a result of the rhythem that the two of them had managed to find that both obviously liked. Revan could feel his concentration begin to slip, the enrapture of feeling his shaft within this toned, slender elf caused his heartbeat to increase and the aura of the Fade thickened on his body, "Only...two people can play..."

"She could watch-"

"She's my sister."

"Oh wow...I...sound like...slut...right now...don't I?"

"Okay...I'll just leave you to rest and play games." Shatele called through the door, "Hope you win brother!"

"I think that I can manage." Revan sucked on Lily's neck and licked down in between her breasts before settling on the nibbling the left nipple. His choice caused Lily's back to buckle and her grip to tighten as she climaxed. Soon after that, Revan savagely increased the pace of his thrusts amidst Tabris' bliss and finally unloaded after he had thrust all the way within her.

"Yeah...you win...this round..." Lily managed when Revan prepared to pull out and ran into a problem that Lily felt, "What's wrong?"

"I'm stuck." The City Elf let out a loud laugh as Revan glared up at her, "This isn't a problem?"

"Guess I'm the tightest girl that you've ever been with?"

"Seeing as that this has never happened before, you try and guess..." Revan answered as Lily kept laughing as Cousland remembered a trick from a mutual friend, "Isabella did say that this would loosen up any queen..."

"What are you doing-" Revan thrusted further into Lily, catching the elf by surprise before he kissed her and tickled her stomach. The elf laughed in his mouth and when Revan tickled further down and did that. Feeling a firm hand performing that action caused Lily gasp and climax again which allowed Revan to pull out after some effort. Effort which caused him to release partially within Lily's opening and upon her stomach and breasts as he gasped in relief.

"I can't believe that worked..."

"Can't believe I'm saying this...but I wouldn't have minded you being stuck...a little longer..." Lily laughed again, feeling thick semen drip out from her vagina, "And don't make me regret this Revan..."

"You won't-"

"You sure, cause I'm hurt already..." Lily mock-complained, "I'm probably gonna be a pariah to the resident dalish and you're too ashamed of me to get caught by your little sister?"

"If you recall, my last lover was an elf. And besides...having Shatele here would make things...awkward."

"Awkward? Are you a naughty brother?"

"No! She's my sister! What's wrong with you?"

"I just got fucked and creamed by a human noble with a penis as thick as a fist and wrist. And I'm in the best mood that I've ever been in over a year." Lily replied, reaching down taking some of Revan's essence onto her tongue, "Now I have a question for you-"

"No." Revan quickly answered to Lily's surprise, "I don't want this to be a one-time thing before you even start."

"Really? What if I want it to be a one-time thing?"

"I highly doubt that you'd impale yourself on a human cock knowing it would deflower you and expect it to be a one-night stand."

"Alright...I won't try to bullshit you." Lily cuddled next to Revan and kissed the side of his neck, "But don't think that you've got me as your lady fair just cause you bedded and marked me. And if you share your bed with another woman, I'll cut off your balls."

"What if said woman is my sister?"

"Other than your sister and it better be nothing more than a..." Both partners shuddered at the very thought of incest even if Lily knew that there was no way that Revan and Shatele were biologically brother and sister. Even then, the idea still seemed wrong, "So...I'm up for another round if it'll scare away the disturbing thoughts."

"I can oblige." Revan grabbed Lily's hips and impaled her upon his erected lance while she kissed him even as her lower body began to instinctively grind upon her partner.

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess<strong>

"And there at last I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside!" Mckellen finished his tale, the crowd of drunken mercenaries and bar attendees including a large "vashoth" named Adaar looked on in awe and amazement at what they had been told by the elder Enchanter, "Any questions?"

"You're making it up."

"And your tale of surviving Ostagar by riding a flock of pigeons is any less fanciful?"

"Honestly, I was unconscious and didn't ask questions about how I survived." Gimli answered Mckellen while the two of them puffed in their pipes, "But, I've gotta be honest. If you knew that the demon was coming, then why didn't you break the bridge after you crossed it? Or just shoot it from the other side? You really didn't need to break your back or nearly die, especially at your age."

"Fair enough...but that was 20 years ago when the damned Orlesians tried to take over the tower."

"This was not the first time that your tower had been conquered then?" Durin inquired, impressed by the smoke rings that the old enchanter blew out, "It's a wonder that the magic knights are able to police your affairs at all."

"Magic knights?"

"He is new to the surface old friend." Wynne explained with humor, "He believes that the templars have magical abilities."

"I keep telling him that it's just the lyrium, but that's only encouraged him."

"And yet he's not the stupid one in the group."

"Hey!" Alistair yelled in objection to Morrigan's quip, "I am very smart! You're the one who doesn't know who Andraste's husband was!"

"I thought this Andraste lady died a virgin?" Gimli asked, "You mean she got shacked by some barbarian with a shaggy beard before she "knelt" before the Maker?"

"As Brosca has pointed out, how does ignorance of history make one less intelligent?" Durin asked the ex-templar, "On this thread of strange logic, let me ask you a question. What was the name of the first Warden?"

"I don't know-"

"His first lover?"

"Eh..."

"How about the name of the first Archdemon?"

"Dumat-"

"Do you know this for certain? How about the second Archdemon?"

"I don't think that they had names-"

"Do you think or do you know? In your viewpoint, it seems that ignorance is the same as stupidity and yet this makes you more stupid than a mindless dog." Rabbit growled in objection to Durin's statement as the dwarf tossed the dog a bone that it happily chased after, "So shall we put that to rest?"

"Quite the observation Lord Aeducan," Morrigan complimented the dwarf exile, "So shall I be forgiven for not knowing some tart's husband?"

"That "tart" is Holy Andraste and you shall give her your respect!"

"Okay...who is Andraste?" Durin inquired to Wynne's annoyance and Morrigan's humor, "Why should we give veneration to a hallucinating woman who was tied to a stake, set on fire and stabbed as she burned? What makes her worthy of worship?"

"Indeed...does this make me stupid for I know no answer Aeducan."

"Stop messing around Morrigan! Even the Qunari know who Andraste was!" Alistair turned to a nearby Sten who was munching on a third jar of cookies, "Sten! Do you know who Andraste is?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Qunari pay no attention to delusions and make-believe gods."

"Tell us what Qunari believe in then!"

"No." Sten answered Alistair who now felt very silly in that moment, "When the ships of the Antaam land upon your shores, you will know for yourself."

"Wouldn't they have to stop fighting Tevinter first?" Shatele inquired when she rejoined the celebrations, "That war is still being fought, no?"

"Finally! Someone whose on my side!" Alistair exclaimed happily and found that he had embraced Shatele. He immediately released her and backed away before he spoke, "Ah...so...where is...your brother?"

"He's fine now. He's playing-" Something in Shatele's visage betrayed that she was about to say something that she shouldn't say before she settled herself, "I mean! He was too tired to play and went to bed early."

"And Tabris?"

"She went to sit on the roof and try to find a shooting star." The girl answered, "I would so love to join her...but I don't have a wish for the star."

"Magic Knights that fail in their duties; Kings who are too easily betrayed by their lords; The central tenet of faith is centered around a woman who was burned and stabbed and now you humans apparently make wishes on flying celestrial objects?" Durin shook his head in utter confusion, "The surface baffles me constantly."

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess Upper Floor<strong>

"Why the hell do you have that dress?" One of three guards asked as Skinny Frank held a dress from that he stole from a city elf up to his face and inhaled. Their boss was a tan-skinned thick-skinned man with a small head and a large pot belly. But, one would be surprised at just how good he was at killing people, "Seriously..."

"Reminds me of the last elven lass that I fucked and then gutted."

"Nevermind." The three guards waited in Frank's crowded room for their fourth member, the scout. Said scout finally entered the room with a half drained pint of whiskey, "Really man?"

"This is gonna be easy! Two of the warden's are in the room across from us! Banging like rabbits!"

"How the hell haven't we heard any of that shit?"

"They're getting rowdier downstairs thanks to the dwarves." The scout replied and drew out his loaded crossbow, "Makes my job easier."

"Can't we watch them?"

"Tell ya what...we'll kill the Rivaini, then ya'll can take turns with the elf and then we'll kill her." Skinny Frank offered while the pointman shuddered, "What are ya, gay?"

"I have a foot in both camps. But honestly, I'm not too comfortable with raping someone-"

"Pussy! More for the rest of us right?" A larger ex-knight asked to the boasts of the other guards as they started sneaking across the hall, already hearing loud moans from the room of their target, "Speaking of pussy...wonder how good that elf?"

"Look! We are not going to rape her!"

"Don't you hear the Rivaini? That guy is humorless as a Qunari on the john!" The ex-knight pointed out while hearing a stern male voice gasp with clear enjoyment, "I want some of what he's got..."

"Stop stroking yourself, we've got a job to do." Frank stated to get his men in line, "We're gonna have to stay close to the wall if we want to get out of here and get the reward."

"Then what are we waiting for?" The scout kicked in the door and immediately fired his crossbow. The guards gasped when the bolt bounced off of some kind of translucent white-blue being who was thrusting a third arm in and out of a blue haired elf, "Eh..."

"Lily..."

"Why'd you stop-" Despite her ectasy, Lily's eyes narrowed at the stunned scout that was aroused, frightened, confused and amazed at what he saw, "Like what you see? Time to pay the peeking fee."

"Fee-" A thrown knife embedded itself in between the scout's eyes as two of his compatriots and his boss ran into the room to earn their bounty. Still connected at the hips, the Blue Rivaini pushed down Lily and seemed to fire a surge of energy that enraptured, crushed and threw one guard out through a wall; and the ex-knight's sword was snapped in half after being blocked by the blue rivaini's arm and left vulnerable to a deep paralyzing stab just underneath his ribs.

Skinny Frank blinked at how quickly two of his men had been disposed and how his third minion was standing in the doorway watching the entire scene. Frank moved with surprising speed to avoid both a thrown knife and another burst of blue energy as he ran towards his targets. Any doubt that the point-man had concerning this mission was confirmed when the Rivaini grabbed the ex-knight's sword and used it to block Frank's duel strikes aimed at his neck. Which left him vulnerable to a twin stabs that punctured the underside of Frank's belly and to be stabbed and thrown out through the previously made hole in the wall.

The next action for the remaining scoundrel wrote itself.

"Okay. I'm done." The Point-man saw no further reason to throw away his life and promptly dropped his weapons. Not even his cock dared rise despite the alluring view of his former targets still in coitus, "I never liked that fat bastard. I didn't like any of them. I didn't like working this job. Can I go home?"

"Okay."

"Start running."

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiled Princess<strong>

"I can't get over it! You're so ignorant of how the world works that you don't even know how much silver equals a sovereign!" Alistair laughed at Morrigan's expense just as a terrified guard ran out of the inn, "Every child knows that 100 silvers equal a sovereign."

"I thought we had put this line of thought to bed." Durin stated as Shatele suddenly coughed up her drink, "I know the line is terrible, I knew it as soon as I uttered it. But tell me, if you are so smart Alistair then you can tell me how Duncan perished."

"What? He was killed by the darkspawn-"

"I mean, how did Duncan die? Was he stabbed or-" Alistair smacked over the table and stormed away as Morrigan laughed while Durin looked at the toppled table in puzzlement, "You didn't answer the question."

"I don't know! How did you kill your brother?" Alistair asked the now stern Aeducan, "Cut his head open? Gut him open and let him bleed to death? Or did you castrated him with a blunt spoon and horrified him to death when you cooked and ate his cock?"

"Why would I use a spoon?"

"You tell me. How did you kill your brother?"

"I punched him in the throat. He attacked me and I attempted to work out a compromise. He refused and kept ranting about his own inferiority towards his younger brother...it kept going on and on...so I punched him in the throat to shut him up."

"You killed your brother because he wouldn't stop talking?"

"If you knew Trian or had a brother like him, you would understand. But did you have a brother?"

"I..."

"No need to answer, your own logic has invalidated your intelligence-" A loud boom sounded from outside that shook everyone from their seats, "Was that the sound of stone striking the earth?"

"You don't know-" Gimli looked out a window and saw a rain of glowing rocks streak across the sky and shook with terror when several rocks hit the ground, "THE SKY IS FALLING!"

"Skies fall'en? RUN FOR YA LIVES!" Oghren and Gimli both cried out in despair and fear while more booming sounds came from outside and the more drunken denizens joined in the panic like chickens who had lost their heads. The Wardens and their companions immediately ran outside to check upon this strange phenomenon.

Immediately regretting it when another star struck just in front of them and knocked them all off of their feet.

"Perhaps charging outside when the sky falls is not an intelligent idea."

"Pashera...the sky has not fallen. This is a meteor shower." Sten explained to Aeducan as the group regathered themselves, "Has your Chant held back your knowledge this much?"

"I am new to this surface and I know nothing of this meteor shower."

"I guess you're the new stupid one in the group!" Alistair remarked with a bitter laugh as they all spied a blue glowing rock in the middle of a deep crater in front of them, "It looks shiny."

"Are you sure that sky hasn't fallen?"

"Look up and you will see that it is still there." Sten stated to the skittish Gimli who seemed afraid that the sky would smack him for looking up at it, "The Tamassrans have no knowledge of where these rocks come from. But they are said to be fallen stars that lose their power and so lose their ability to stay above the earth."

"So the sky ain't gonna fall and crush us?" Oghren asked as Revan and Lily exited the inn, "Where the hell have you two been?"

"I was resting and heard a loud noise outside." Revan explained, buttoning up his tunic as Shatele smirked to Revan's subtle annoyance, "Is everyone alright?"

"I felt like my heart was about to leap out of my chest...but I'm alright..." Gimli answered while still hugging Kalah to himself like it was a protective blanket, "I've only been on this blasted surface for a month and just I've come to accept that I won't float up into the sky, suddenly rocks fall and I'm terrified enough to think that the SKY IS FALLING!"

"THE SKY IS FALLING WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE-" Oghren was kept from spreading any more panic thanks to being smacked in the head by Surana's staff and fall flat onto his back.

"Anyone else want to panic?"

"Isn't that a little excessive?" Lily asked the fellow elf who shrugged while a nearby Mairon emerged from the crater with the smoking rock in his hands, "How are you not getting burnt?"

"Magic. Jealous? Too bad! I'm keeping this one." Mairon laughed while juggling the rock in his hands and ignoring his burnt palms as if he didn't care about any pain that he would be feeling, "So where was the warning Tabris?"

"Warning?"

"Yeah...Shatele said that you were on the roof watching the shooting stars. It would've been nice to have a warning." Morrigan slyly noted, "No matter."

"Is anyone hurt?" Leliana inquired when she and an injured Gilead asked when they rejoined the group, "Marvelous night..."

"Apart from you almost dying and my arm being wrenched from it's socket-" Gilead screamed when Surana suddenly reconnected Mahariel's arm back into it's socket with a healing spell, "Why did that hurt more than it should?"

"Lealion? What have I told you about sudden healing?" Wynne rebuked her former apprentice, "This shower appears to have affected the greater area. We should look for any survivors."

"Why?" Gimli asked and then quickly answered his own question, "Dead or alive, they'll have a lot of loot."

"Shame on you."

"What? It's a long road old woman, we're gonna every bit of loot that we can find." Gimli remarked just as a man with raised hands approached the group, "Whose that?"

"Didn't we tell you to run-"

"You did. And I was running when the sky started falling and...well...I saw it as a sign." The man explained to Lily, "In fact...I was just about to tell you who hired me to kill you."

"What?"

"So you were hired to kill us, the meteor shower killed your group and now you've had a change of heart?" Revan asked the man who nodded as if trying to silently beg for his life, "Could you show me where you were to met your employer?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I know things look different right now-"

"Meteors tend to do that, calm yourself." Sten rebuked the shaking mercenary as he, Revan, Gimli, Lealion and Leliana looked up a deep crater in the middle of a path leading out from the lake, "This is convenient."

"I suppose their plan was to have us attacked at the inn and then lured here to where we would be ambushed and killed?" Revan asked the mercenary who nodded, "Alright, you can continue running."

"I say we shoot him-"

"Put that piece of wood down."

"It ain't just a piece of wood honey!"

"Hey look! An old couple!" Surana yelled pointing out to where a pair of elderly civilians were climbing out of the crater, "Are you alright over there?"

"We're fine! Thank you! The Maker has answered our prayers!"

"How?"

"We found a baby boy!" The old wife held up an infant wrapped in cloth for the wardens to see, "It's a miracle that he survived."

"How did a child survive that? The crater is still smoking."

"Maybe the kid was in the meteor?" Gimli asked and was ignored, "Yeah, I thought that was stupid too."

"There are a few corpses around here...some more recognizable than others though." Surana inquired as the group scattered out and searched the bodies littered around and within the crater, "One of them was a mage."

"One of them knew a friend of someone named Red Jenny."

"This one collected Qunari swords and...sold them..."

"This one has a detailed account of targets that match all of us including...Rivani who thinks he's Ferelden?"

"And this one was very hot..." Surana shook her head in disappointment as she passed a very handsome tattooed elf and gasped with hope when she heard the man stir, "Got a live one!"

"Heal him as much as you can!"

"That's why I'm here."

* * *

><p><strong>An Antivan's Dilemna<strong>

"He's waking up." Zevran opened and saw three upside down red-haired ladies staring down at him spinning in a circle around his dimmed vision, "Hello? Can you hear me?"

"The voice of an angel..." Zevran muttered in the throes of his stupor. A stupor that quickly weakened when he recognized other faces around him to be those of the wardens that he had been sent to kill. Not to mention the small inconvenience of being tied up with rope and chains.

The chains would be kinky if not for the situation.

"Might I ask why I have been tied up? Not that I don't mind-"

"You tell us, crow." The blue haired elf, Tabris if the assassin could remember correctly, "Our friendly bard says that you're an Antivan Crow. Is that true?"

"My reputation proceeds me then?" Zevran asked with a smile only to be received with frowns, "Tough crowd."

"The sky fell a little while ago, we're not in the most happy of moods." Gimli said to the dalish elf's amusement which earned the elf a sharp elbow to the stomach, "I'm also new to the surface, so care to explain what an Antivan Crow is?"

"Crows are birds, this elf is not a bird." Durin muttered to himself, "How can he be a crow if he is not a bird?"

"I am pretty like a bird." Zevran asserted in an attempt to charm his way out of the situation or at least into the bed of one of the nearby beautiful women that stabbed him with their eyes, "I also happen to know many bird songs-"

"No need."

"Good sir, might I know your name?" The Rivani Ferelden, Revan inquired politely though Zevran could feel the man's hatred, "I am Revan of House Cousland and Grey Warden of Ferelden."

"And I am Zevran Araini and might I say that your ebony skin is beautiful-

"He's trying to charm us, can I kill him now?"

"Now, now, let's not be rude to this handsome traveler," Leliana suggested to Lily, "I am not the only one curious as to why an Antivan Crow has gone through all of the effort to make his way to Ferelden."

"He's an assassin, he was likely here to kill someone." Shatele guessed, "Who exactly were you going to kill?"

"I was here to kill the Grey Wardens." Zevran saw no point in hiding the truth, "All of you in fact, except for the lovely lady crowned with the sun's yellow silk within her hair."

"You were going to capture me, rape me and sell me to Howe for an additional bonus?"

"Shatele..."

"Brother! I know how men are...especially this scum."

"He's an assassin, if Howe wanted you-"

"Actually the girl is quite astute, I was going to capture her and then give her to Howe so that his son could rape her." Zevran confirmed to the disgust of the Cousland siblings, "And...though rape is an especial evil that I do not debase myself to commit...I was perfectly willing to chance charming into her sharing my-" Upon seeing Revan's glare, Zevran silently chose to keep from finishing his confession.

"That plan won't work obviously, so what's your new plan?"

"Eh, I was thinking of joining all of you." Zevran replied and waited for a chance to speak further before any objections were heard, "I say this in full awareness of my situation. I am fully aware that you have reason whatsoever to trust me-"

"You heard him! Kill him-"

"Halt Brosca! Perhaps we can make an arrangement."

"I like this dwarf, he doesn't want me dead and his beard is quite...alluring." Durin paused in confusion as Zevran signed, "The truth is that I am essentially a dead man in the eyes of my fellow crows. We are tasked with slaying our targets or dying in the attempt. So I am in a bit of a predicament. I have not died, yet I have been thwarted quite handedly by the design of fate through means that no man on this world could possibly foresee or prepare against."

"You've gotta be made of something tough if you're still alive when sky falls on you."

"I also like this dwarf! He smells of blood and piss and...honey?"

"It's what I use for my brew!"

"Charming." Zevran complemented Oghren, "In any case, I happen to like living and I want to keep living if at all possible. So here is what I propose. I work for you, I protect and serve the Wardens of Ferelden for as long as you deem necessary until my death. As a bonus, I am also trained in infiltration, entertainment, physical therapy, linguistic training, and various methods of murder involving poisons, knives, swords, and even your bare hands."

"What about feet and hair?"

"I did kill a pirate once..."

"What does that have to do with anything-"

"With the hair on my back."

"How...You know what? I'm gonna take your word for it," Lily stated, her knife still gripped in her hand, "And what's stopping you from betraying us like you just betrayed your former employer?"

"As long as the sky doesn't fall on me again, we should be fine." Zevran answered, "I also happen to know intimate information concerning the movements of Howe and Loghain's forces for the next month or so."

"How?"

"I knew a pirate who..."knew" Howe..."

"Isabela?"

"Isabela, you know her?"

"She's the one that taught me everything I knew." Lily answered and caught a questioning aside from Revan, "Yeah...everything..."

"She was a good teacher then." Revan laughed while Lily rolled her eyes and most of the wardens missed a great deal of subtext between them except for Gilead who shook his head in detached disappointment, "In any case, you won't worry about the sky falling on you if you betray us. I'll gut you myself, understood?"

"So you will accept my deal?"

"You're making a unilateral decision for this entire assembly without consulting the rest of us?" Durin inquired, more angry than curious, "Unless you intend to hire him as your personal assassin, in which case, fine."

"That's not fine! He outright admitted that he's doing this to save his own skin!" Gimli objected, "If we're not going to kill him, we should at least tie him to a tree and leave him there!"

"What? That would kill me...kill me! Imagine all of the women and men who would take advantage of a helpless beautiful elf!"

"Stop being so melodramatic you're embarrassing me." Gilead rebuked as Zevran chuckled, "You believe this is a game? Do not think that we will not kill you, crow."

"He's more useful to us alive than dead." Morrigan remarked, "And if he does betray us, then we kill him like all of our enemies."

"All deserve a chance for repentance in the eyes of the Maker." Leliana stated though her visage was less warm than her words, "Let him have a chance."

"He's funny, but I say kill him."

"The blue-elf speaks wisdom for once."

"I have a name Sten."

"I am sure that it is a lovely one."

"He's a murderer that was hired by Howe..."

"I prefer the term assassin..."

"But...he's sorry for trying to kill us."

"Sorry wouldn't be-" Noticing a gesture from Shatele's hand, Zevran realized that this lady was giving him a chance to more greatly secure his survival, "Yes...I am very remorseful for following my orders and wish to make amends...along with living. But the lady is right, I am sorry for trying to kill you. Especially after the giant rock that nearly killed me."

"It was the sky!"

"Against all of my better judgement, I suppose we'll need everyone that we can gather to fight the Blight and Loghain." Alistair wearingly accepted and groaned when Zevran gave the ex-templar an innocent and somehow attractive "sad puppy face", "Stop that!"

"Then we are agreed! Now untie me!"

"Nah...We're not that dumb." Oghren spoke for the group as they decided to leave their newly recruited assassin hanging upside down above the Lake.

"Brasca."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Yeah, I picked on Gimli a little bit didn't I?**

**Just think about it from his perspective. Imagine if you lived all of your life underground to where the idea of a sun and sky are ludicrous to your understanding. Then you leave the underground kingdom that has been your world and step out into this open surface with a wide sky that you're afraid of falling up into. Just as you start to become assured that you won't get swallowed into the sky, a meteor shower appears and now you know that rocks can fall from this wide sky and kill you.**

**In fact, how do you think a newly surfaced dwarf in Dragon Age would react to other events like storms, tornadoes, floods, or even earthquakes? The surface world suddenly seems like a very terrifying place to live.**

**And before you say anything...yes, what happened to Revan during coitis is very possible. Look up "Penis_captivus", it has happened, I didn't make it up. I know that I was probably having a ridiculous amount of fun with the two-part lemon scene. But I made sure to try and keep it plausible, at least by the standards of a setting where: demonic dragon-gods lead armies of zombie-orcs; Magic Knights addicted to drugs police mages on the fear that they'll slit their wrists; and where everything has been stuck in the middle ages for over a thousand years.**

**Anyway, hope you're enjoying the ride.**

**Later.**


	29. The South Falls, The Watcher laughs

**_Lord of The Castle_**

_All around them, men and children were being slaughtered. All around them, women had skirts torn apart as they were held down and ravaged. Corpses were plundered and thrown to the heap._

_The lord of his castle stood defiant._

_"Rendon enough!" The old man demanded, he was desperate and mortally wounded, holding his sword against the throat of a lightly armored young girl, "Take my land...take my title...but no more..."_

_"Bryce don't..."_

_"He is our son...our firstborn...our child..." Bryce could feel tears flow from his eyes as the woman at his mercy gasped and begged, "Let him go and I swear that I will forget this! The King will never know of what happened here...I will surrender the terynir to your house. I swear by the Maker...Rendon...you have won...enough blood has been spilled."_

_"I begged and pleaded with those same words when you hanged my father." Rendon casually mused, uncaring for the pleas of his former friend, "I have already taken everything from you that I want. There is no point to your begging."_

_"Your father was a traitor and an Orleisan whore!"_

_"Thomas...hit her." Bryce cringed to see his restrained wife have her face bashed by the shield of Howe's heir and Fergus gave a shadow of an objection, "Do you not realize who is in control here?"_

_"Is that what this is about? Revenge? Revenge for a man who disavowed you as his son?"_

_"I pay the iron price as my forefathers did before me. These lands were taken from us by your family and now I am taking them back."_

_"Through treachery? Treason? Senseless murder?"_

_"Murder is murder, you and I are the same."_

_"I am not like you...what we did during the rebellion was war. We fought against outside occupation and those who supported them-"_

_"And how did we stop them? We killed them, we murdered them."_

_"I will not waste time arguing with you...I hate you for what you have done...but I meant every word."_

_"Bryce! It's hopeless darling-"_

_"For us...but not our son! Fergus go!" To his horror, Bryce's son blankly met his father's pleading eyes and turned his gaze towards the corpses of his wife and son, "Go to the stables! Fly you fool! Please! PLEASE!"_

_"Interesting...but why would I allow him to do that?"_

_"I may be a dying man...but I am lord of Highever and a hound of House Cousland..." Bryce declared, his voice raising to remind Howe's thugs of who he was. His hostage wet herself while the blade pricked the skin of her neck as Bryce addressed Thomas, "Heir of House Howe...command your father's forces to let my son go. Or I will cut your woman's throat and take your father with me to hell."_

_"You are bad at this Lord Cousland..." Thomas yawned and dismissively waved his hand at the increasingly terrified hostage, "Take my father with you? Please...kill him! Drag yourself over and stab him, then I can take my rightful command over your lands and my house."_

_"Thomas..."_

_"I feel like I'm forgetting something..." The poor girl sobbed while Thomas pondered and remembered the second half of Bryce's threat, "Oh yes! Something about a whore-"_

_"I...I thought you wanted me to-"_

_"I'll find another." Thomas shrugged and walked in between Eleanor and Fergus, "Which one father?"_

_"Put the boy out of his misery." Rendon drained his goblet as the remnants of the Cousland guards struggled against their wounds and captives, "He died when his family did..."_

_"Mother...Father..." Fergus muttered as Thomas approached him, drawing a long hooked short sword with blood upon it's silver steel, "Maker have mercy on your soul..."_

_"Thank you...but I won't give you any." It didn't even seem like Fergus felt the blade enter under his ribs nor carve up until it's edge stuck out of his left breast, "Teryn Loghain sends his regards." The blade was wrenched from Fergus' chest, exposing the mangled innerds of Bryce's son to the ravaged court._

_"Maker no..." His strength failing, Bryce felt himself absently slit the throat of that poor abandoned girl. He was far too distracted by the murder of his son, a man whom now fell on his knees with life gone from his eyes, his skin turning pale and limbs becoming stiff and rigid. Eleanor cried out with a mother's pain as her son fell upon the carpet he would ruin and muddy as a child._

_"My son lost his favorite whore and you don't see me crying about it." To Bryce's utter surprise and horror, Rendon had already stabbed a knife through his wife's throat, forever etching her face with hopelessness and grief, "Let's see her try to scream now..."_

_"Damn you...damn you all to hell!" With no strength to stand, Bryce Cousland collapsed onto the floor of his fallen house. Despite his pain, despite his grief, he refused to cry...he would not give Howe that satisfaction, "Just kill me and take your damned lands..."_

_"Do not worry...I'm not going to kill you," Rendon knelt down beside the bleeding Bryce, "If I killed you now...it would be a mercy for you. But there will be no mercy...I have hurt you and I rather enjoy hurting you. In fact, I would be happy to find other ways to hurt you." Rendon brought out a handaxe and struck the lord of his castle._

**The Wilderness**

Shatele awoke in a frightened daze.

She awoke with tears flowing from her eyes, her blanket already dampened. She quickly wiped her eyes and exited her tent, being careful not to awaken the sleeping mabari hound beside her.

Outside, she looked upon the hill-filled landscape that the party was traveling through. They were upon the highlands, set up above the plains and just below the mountains to the north and to the east. In a way, they were at a crossroads of a sort. If they choose to go west, then they would come to the Fort of West Hill and further beyond their, Orzammar, one of the places that her brother and the other wardens would need to go.

If they went east, they would pass through the northern bannorn which was now caught within a devastating civil war with many Fereldens dying on both sides. Beyond that, Denerem was held by Anora and Loghain, the latter of whom was a traitor to his king and had falsely charged the Grey Wardens with his own treachery.

To the north, was Highever, a terynir now held by the very man who had betrayed and murdered her father. As the party had traveled, Shatele had heard nothing reliable about the area since the massacre. Only Howe's lies which few believed, but no one was brave enough to oppose.

Perhaps this was the root of her inability to sleep in the past month. The closer she came to her home, the more that unwanted memories flooded into her mind. The more that she saw little Oren crying out for his mother, who lied dead beside him. The more that he saw her brother hold the body of Iona and weep silent tears. The more that she saw her father desperately try to hold his wounded body together with a single hand.

How could she face anyone else who survived? She left them.

"My lady?" Of course, he had to be on watch, "You are having trouble sleeping no? Perhaps I could massage your back until your troubles fade away-"

"Touch me and I'll snap off your fingers, use them to pry out your eyes and then crush your skull till to explodes like a watermelon being smashed against a rock." Shatele warned with a polite smile, the Antivan crow took the hint and held up his hands in surrender, "Shouldn't you be ensuring that we're not about to be ambushed?"

"Actually I had been relieved of guard duty by the ex-templar." Zevran corrected while he sat next to Shatele, to the latter's quiet disapproval, "But I too have no wish to sleep just yet. I would rather get to know you-"

"You were going to capture me, and sell me to Howe so that his son can rape me and legitimize his takeover of my home." Shatele pointed out without raising her tone, "The only reason that you are still alive is because my brother needs people like you."

"People like me?" Zevran asked curiously, "You beautiful people or murderers."

"The latter."

"Drats!" Zevran snapped his fingers, "When your brother cut me down back at Lake Calenhad, I was hoping that he wanted another elf in his tent."

"I assure you, Lily is all that he needs." By now, it was an open secret that Lily and Revan had been "intimate" with each other since Lake Calenhad. Even Shatele could guess as much, but choose to remain respectful and was in fact, happy for her brother.

Morrigan, whose tent was close-by Revan's, was not happy. Especially on certain nights.

"So murderers is what your brother needs?" Zevran continued with a sly smirk, "People who have no moral qualms about murder, mayhem and slaughter. Much like your resident Black Mage."

"No. We don't need another Mairon, but you have the right idea." Shatele corrected, also unnerved by how Zevran and Mairon had really gotten along in the past month and a half."

"But you are a killer is well." Zevran stated, "You use different tactics and different weapons and possess a different motive and perspective. But what happens to people when you swing your sword at them? Do they merely sleep without their heads between their shoulders and then put the head back in place when they awake?"

"I only kill when I have to." Shatele answered with a serious tone, "You enjoy it."

"Of course I do. There is so much artistic merit to the planning and cunning within the art of murder." Zevran boasted, "Take for instance, I was once hired to impersonate a bard at a wedding-"

"I don't want to hear this story."

"Because it has a sad and bloody ending?" Zevran asked while humored, "Dear child. Most stories end that way. The happy endings are in fairy tales and tall tales that are told to children to make them believe that the world isn't a pile of shit. But we both know the truth, don't we."

"There is good in the world and it's worth fighting for."

"Fine. Close off your mind. See how that helps you." Zevran stood up to go to his tent and looked back at Shatele, "What is good? I hope that you have a real answer, Lady Cousland. You're far too smart to deny the truth of the world." With that, he left Shatele alone to her thoughts and her grief.

Was there still good in this world?

* * *

><p><strong>A few hours later<strong>

"Hey! Wake up!" Groaning, Revan Cousland instinctively pulled swat his hand up above him. Accidently swiping Lily Tabris' breasts, "Like them that much?"

"Blame me?" Lily playfully slapped the noble and went to grab her tunic, stockings and other pieces of armor and clothing, "Is it dawn yet?"

"Just an hour after dawn." Lily answered to Revan's surprise, "Alistair figured that you should get more rest, so I tricked you into sleeping in little. The world won't go to hell because you dozed off for a few hours."

"Those tend to add up."

"Get dressed Revan, don't waste energy worrying about yesterday." Lily gave a caste kiss on the human's lips and left his tent. He chuckled to himself and got dressed as well though he lacked his armor as he still needed to get it back from Dryden. As he exited the tent, he looked upon the smaller campsite and thought about when this group had left the others back at Lake Calenhad.

"Was this the right choice?" Revan asked himself, it seemed logical at the time, but now he just wasn't so certain anymore. However, he didn't wish to muddy this morning with his own doubt, "Morning."

"Hello Lord Cousland, we were just finishing the sausages." Zevran replied at the campfire where some links of meat were hanging to be roasted, "And the qunari was on stand-by to break my neck if I appeared to be trying to poison you."

"Karasten, how goes your pointless exercise in frivolity?"

"None of your business, I'll decide for myself what is pointless and what isn't." Despite the respect between him and Sten, Revan still clashed with him on a few things. Such as his relationship with Lily for the past month or so since Lake Calenhad which the qunari didn't seem to hate. But it seemed as though his culture did not approve of such bondings much like his own, "Whose on watch?"

"Alistair and Rabbit." Shatele answered as she joined the campfire, "Morrigan is off somewhere...she probably turned herself into a newt."

"A newt?"

"It's better than a spider." Mairon joined in as he plucked a sausage for himself, "So how much longer until we find this castle that doesn't exist?"

"It exists, sir warden! I promise you." Levi protested, "Might be a little dusty as no one's been there in 200 years. But it's there, we're not far now."

"The bas saarabas should be mindful of his ignorance of the world."

"Says the hornless giant who got trapped in a cage."

"Were you not in a cage? Mine was simply on a farm whereas your's was in the middle of a lake." Sten pointed out while Mairon shrugged and left with his sausage, "For good reason."

"You don't like mages?"

"He calls mages...things, I'm sure that's a clear sign of dislike." Lily answered Shatele, "So I take it that you don't have mages in the qunari?"

"We have mages, just not the same sort as you do."

"Why not?"

"For the same reason that we do not light our own houses on fire or invite locusts into your fields." Sten answered Revan, "Our mages are controlled to do less harm than yours. They have their tongues cut out and are kept in pens."

"Magic isn't evil-" Sten pointed to Mairon, causing Revan to pause,"Magic isn't always evil."

"As a fish stranded by the tide knows the air or a drowning man knows the sea, so does a mage know magic."

"Anything in excess can be dangerous." Shatele counted the qunari, "Like food or water. Too much food and you get too fat to walk without breaking a bone and too much water will have you drowned."

"Can you have just a little drowning? Some things only come in excess."

"Knowledge is no where near as deadly as ignorance."

"Knowledge is one-half of wisdom. But there are many things that can only be known too late."

"Then why use magic at all if it is so dangerous?"

"We live in the world, and magic is part of it." Sten conceded to Dryden, "One might as well reject the sky."

"What do you believe magic is?"

"A sword without a hilt."

"Mages aren't as dangerous as you say-" Sten pointed to Mairon again, again Revan had to pause, "Mages aren't always as dangerous as you say."

"Say that to the templars at the bottom of the Circle Tower."

"That was different-"

"Not different enough."

"How would you know?"

"How would you know that I have not?" Sten asked, "My homeland has been at war with the mage-lords of Tevinter for all of my lifetime. I have seen what magic is and what it does."

"A few mages misuse their power, so they are all untrustworthy?" Revan inquired, "So by that same logic, if a few nobles betray their country then that must mean that all nobles are traitors. No?"

"My people have a tale: An Ashkaari walked among the fields once, observing the laborers at work. Plax bloomed all around him, the color of still water. The air rippled like a curtain. As he stopped to examine a blossom, a bee stung him on the hand. The ashkaari turned to a laborer for aid and noticed for the first time the heavy gloves coat she wore."

"As she tended to him, the ashkaari asked them why she was dressed so in such stifling heat. 'To avoid your fate,' she replied." "'But there are many thousands of bees here,' The ashkaari said to her, 'And only one stung me. Surely your caution is unwarranted.'" 'The stinger is always a surprise.' agreed the laborer, 'But so is the bee that simply passes one by.'"

"Bees aren't mages." Revan answered, "Mages know the consequences of their actions while bees don't."

"It costs a bee it's life to sting a man. What does it cost a mage?"

"With what I've heard about mage "enhancement" spells, I'd love to be stung by a mage." Zevran joined in, "In fact, it reminds of this time that I was stung by a rather beautiful mage from Nevarra."

"Male or female?"

"Both I believe...it was interesting." Zevran answered the curious Lily, "I was contracted to kill the mage, but she...he...cast a spell that made himself impossibly attractive and I just couldn't leave them alone. Under the mage's spell, she used me in ways that I did not believe that an elf could be used."

"So how did you survive and murder her?" Shatele inquired, "Him..."

"I came prepared my lady." Zevran replied, "And coated my manhood with a special poison that would...overload her nervous system upon climax. Making it appear as though a single slap would last years in her perspective. Under such pressure, her heart was doomed to give out before my magnificence and it all looked like an accident."

"Note to self...must study ways to enhance nervous reaction of future targets..." Mairon scribbled on a thick piece of what appeared to be dried skin, "Electric spells may do the trick...Blood control plus lightning application equal elaborate and painful death? Must investigate further..."

"Starting breakfast without me?" Alistair chimed in humorously followed by the Cousland family hound who was holding a helmet by it's visor prongs, "Lovely morning...shame that we have to leave soon."

"Levi says that we're close to the fort, so we'll wait two hours." Revan replied to the surprise of some in the group, "Then we move towards the keep at one-half time to make up for lost time. How long will it take, Levi?"

"Less than a day."

"Can your country wait that long?" Sten asked, "I still question why we are fighting the Blight by going in the opposite direction of it's advance."

"Trust me Sten, this is for the best." Revan stated to the qunari, who seemed unconvinced, but rested his case. For his part, Revan looked southward, "It's an odd paradox that we're in. We can't rush and yet, we don't have all of the time in the world. While we sit here...people are dying...or running..."

* * *

><p><strong>Dirge of the South<strong>

He ran.

Berchan of the West Hills was running as hard as his legs could carry him. Fear and purpose drove him as he sped through the hilly terrain. Though his area had long since been lost, there was a desperate need to send a raven to the capital with news of the invasion from the south. That message was the only chance of receiving aid from the capital.

However little it would be.

Berchan had gone to a barely-manned outpost in the Northwest of the Arling expecting to have the castallan send word north. But when he had gotten there, he saw for himself exactly what was invading Ferelden. The monsters who killed their king at Ostagar, the fiends from hell which overran the Korcari Wilds and scared even the Chasind savages, the hordes that devoured Lothering and now ravaged through the South Hills. Unchecked and unchallenged.

The first darkspawn that the lad saw was a stunted creature that ran through the company bard. The man was still alive as the genlock eat out his pulled open chest. Berchan wet himself and fled through the outpost, just in time to watch two hurlocks take turns ravaging a stunned and barely alive girl. When they were done with her, they flung her to an ogre so that that beast could have turn. Or rip her in half. Then use each half as make-shift paintbrushes for the outpost that they would soon claim.

As soon as Berchan attached the message from his father to a messenger bird, he wanted to bolt right away. Instead, he stayed and drew an iron sword hoping to protect the raven as it was sent towards Denerem. A darkspawn found him and tried to shot past him and kill the raven. Instead, Berchan stabbed his sword through the monster's neck and slashed out to decapitate it. Blood splashed on his body, disorienting him and leaving him too dazed to care for the battle around him.

He wondered out of the outpost, past darkspawn who paid no heed to him and focused on the corpses that they desecrated. Past soldiers who fought to the last man without hope for victory or life. Or even his dying companions who were ill-suited against the darkspawn and died like cattle. Thinking back, Berchan didn't try to hard to recall how exactly he had walked out of that outpost unharmed.

Unlike that bird.

"Boy!" Berchan stopped running after what seemed like hours and collapsed onto the field. "Boy! Don't you die on me!"

"Father?" The young man was pulled to his feet by a massive and serious man. Past him, Berchan could see a large group of at least a hundred men in light and medium armor, "You came for me?"

"You were slow boy. What did you expect?" In his own way, Arl Gallagher Wulff was glad to know that his son was alive. But Berchan couldn't see that to well due to his own exhaustion and the man's scared and hardened expression, "Did you send the bird?"

Berchan exhaled, recalling the dark shaft that stuck out of the raven's cracked and burnt skull.

"Well boy?" Wulff demanded, "You had one job. Did you succeed?"

"I did."

"With my message?"

"Yes."

"Good boy."

"But they shot it."

"Maker be damned." The Arl laughed in bitter distaste, "Not your fault. At least you didn't die for nothing."

"Are we going to die?"

"We may. But it won't from lack of fighting." The Arl gave his son a quick and fierce hug before turning back to his men, "Listen up! We are on our own now! We make for Redhold!"

"What about the others?" The Arl's captain asked, "There are still thousands of soldiers and civilians scattered through the arling-"

"We can barely protect ourselves right now!" The Arl shouted back, "We need a central location to rally and gather our people! If we stay out here then we are dead! Believe me, I can't believe we'll have to those Avvar barbarians!"

"Izot's with them." Wulff gave his son a small aside, still unsettled about the idea of his daughter being married to an Avvar, "We'll be stronger as one than separate."

"True. Move out!" On their Arl's orders, the troops began to evacuated from this long lost stretch of land. Wulff picked up his son and brought him onto a nearby donkey, "Stay close, I won't lose another boy to those monsters."

"I'm sorry dad."

"Don't worry boy. You've done me proud." Hearing a fierce roar in the distance, Berchan clutched onto the donkey for dear life, "Time to go."

**-xxxxxx-xxxx-x-x-**

The Warrior in Armor of Silver Runes walked down a line of taken prisoners. Nearby, the darkspawn under it's command stood at savage attention, fully controlled by the will of this agent of their master. It looked upon each and every soldier and peasant, male and female, young and old, adults and children, to determine which would be best for it's purposes. Some would be set free in order to sow chaos and fear to their brethren in the north. Some would be sent into the Deeps and used to breed more numbers into the darkspawn horde. The rest would be killed, raped, eaten or whatever else the horde wished for them.

The Warrior made a single gesture to indicate it's choice. A choice that the poor souls would never know even as it happened to them. The screams and cries that filled the air did nothing to deter the Warrior's stance. It's staff slung upon it's back along with it's sword and shield, the warrior seemed nigh-unstoppable.

Because it remembered what it was.

They were known by many names by the few who knew of them. Most of which were lost to a history that had forgotten them. Rune Deacon or Fell Deacon was a prevalent title in some circles. A being who was sent into the depths to die before the corruption that they bore turned them into the very thing that they fought against. A champion unequaled in reverence and strength who spent their last days in endless strife with their sworn enemies below.

But not he. Not the others who soon joined him.

The Silver Deacon had once been a man. It had long forgotten the man's name or where he was from. Only that was a mage who hid his talents as a warrior without equal. He joined the sworn enemies of the darkspawn when his deception was discovered and eventually entered the depths.

The Grey Deacon nearby had been an elf. A former slave who killed her master and became an infamous slayer of humans and mages. She was recruited by the same sworn enemies and soon it was her time to go to the depths with naught, but a longsword of cold-ice and a greatsword forged in the fires of a dragon she killed.

The Black Deacon had been a defender of kings. But whichever king he defended was overthrown and he was forced to forswear his life and enemy. Instead, he joined those who guard against the darkspawn until he too was called into the depths.

The Red Deacon who wore Runic-Armored Mage Robes with a tattered hood painted crimson had been a champion of mages. A healer and defender of the innocent who was hunted all the days of his life. Even as a guardian against darkness, he had no peace, even as he went to the gates of the depths.

The White Deacon that wore Cold White Runic Armor with Clear Blue crystal highlights did not remember what he was. Only that he had been a mighty leader of men and was betrayed by those he called brothers. He found no contentment as a grey guard against the darkness, but served well until he too entered the depths.

But they did not fight till their last breath.

Instead, they surrendered to the darkness within them and joined their enemies. Guided by the Calling, their foes welcomed them and drew them to their masters. Knowing well that the Grey Wardens were the only threat to their mortality, the great Dragons that guided the darkspawn bestowed a great gift upon these willing turncoats. It gave them pain, corruption and agony, but also power, immortality and rebirth as a champion of that which they once called enemies.

A new Calling.

Each time that a Blight has begun, one Deacon is added to their number. Now there were five and had expected no resistance after the Grey Wardens were slain in Ostagar. The leaders of this nation fought one another now that their king had fallen and nearby nations were fortifying themselves rather than aid this conflicted realm.

But not all was assured.

Their master still sensed the presence of a few wardens that lived. No doubt due to the interference of the Witch. As long as they lived, others would join them and this would break the disunion that made the darkspawn invasion so much easier than it had in past Blights.

The Five Deacons looked upon one another without speaking. But still they communicated and understood. One would go North to find these Wardens and destroy them. Another would go West to ensure that the Wardens from amongst the Cheese-Lover's would not attempt to send aid. Another would go East to lead the Horde through another territory of these Fereldens. The last two would remain in the West Hills and infest it with their hordes.

After this land was taken, they would move north towards the lake and the red cliffs.

Overhead, an incoming drake flew down and landed behind it's master. Born from a tainted mother held in the deeps, this specially breed dragon served well as a replacement of the one lost in Ostagar. Though it's master cared little for attachment, the Rune Deacon still acknowledged that this beast was still somewhat weaker than it's predecessor.

But to the humans, it would mean little difference.

* * *

><p><strong>Honnleath<strong>

Feed the birds.

Why? Why do the birds need to be fed?

They can fly. They have talons and beaks. They're perfectly capable of fending for themselves. Yet the villagers constantly laid out bread and seeds for the filthy creatures. With their feathers and their chirping and their droppings.

The watcher especially hated the droppings.

It stood in the middle of the square when the village was assailed by creatures that it vaguely remembered to be darkspawn. Inside of itself, it carefully etched every detail of the horrific massacre in it's memory. All of those peasants who were cut open or eaten alive; all of those stupid women who got their dresses torn and were dragged off; and the children...

He enjoyed watching the children die the most.

Those little meatbags would always urinate on or paint the watcher for their own amusement. One even chipped off a rock to keep as a souvenir, two older ones rutted on the watchers back.

It felt only joy to watch them all die.

Well, most of them anyway. Sadly, the son of his previous master lived and was using his spells and other magical contraptions left by his father to protect the stupid villagers. The meatbag gathered what survivors that he could and led them into his father's shed. Except for a black-haired bitch who was too slow and had to be left behind. The darkspawn took turns ravaging the woman before carrying her off with the other captives. The watcher was apathetic to the ordeal, not condoning the rape (why waste time instead of killing her?), but feeling no sympathy for the woman.

She fed the birds the most seeds. Which meant that most of the droppings that fell on the watcher were because of that damned woman.

Now some darkspawn converged on the stone watcher. One of which was keenly interested and studying it, a short and stunted darkspawn with a staff that glowed with mana.

A mage.

The Watcher's previous master was a mage. A despicable and arrogant mage who used the watcher to his leisure. One day, the mage pulled a cruel prank on the mage and then the next thing that the watcher remembered was standing stiff and still in the spot where it stood for many years. In front of it, the mage who called itself the watcher's master lied broken, beaten and bloodied.

If the Watcher could have laughed it would have.

The darkspawn mage took out a rod of dwarven-make and began trying to speak something written on a scroll. But the vocal cords of the darkspawn made whatever words that it was trying to say sound like gibbering noise instead.

The Watcher was bored already.

Until an arrow went through the mage's knee. Then the darkspawn grabbed it's leg and started screaming in agony that delighted the watcher. While it's comrades ran towards the source of the arrow, another darkspawn as shot through the head and fell on the darkspawn mage's wounded knee.

Sometimes the Watcher had to appreciate the small joys of it's miserable state of being. Like watching other meat-bags suffer in hilarious fashions such as what was happening before him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**The party has officially split up.**

**Yes, that's usually something that you're not supposed to do, but the wardens did it anyway. Because they need to cover more ground without assuming that they'd have enough time for everything like we players did. Plus, more hilarity is possible without so many sane folk around to keep the crazies from doing some stupid...stupid...things.**

**You know who I'm talking about.**

**Just so we're clear about the group make-up here it is. Group North is going to Soldier's Peak and includes Revan, Mairon, Lily, Alistair, Shatele, Morrigan, Sten, Zevran and Rabbit the Mabari. While Group East is going to the Brecilian Forest and has Gilead, Gimli, Durin, Leliana, Oghren, Wynne, Lealion, and Huan the Mabari. Next chapter will focus more on Group East gaining a new member and then we'll see what happens from there.**

**Also, I'm entertaining thoughts of starting a DAII spin-off, but have no idea about how to do it without spoiling it's readers as to how this story will end. Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them in PM's.**

**Otherwise, thanks for reading.**


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